Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken
by Tigerflesh
Summary: when temari and gang find three girls lying on the side of the road knocked out, they wake them up. but are these three ordinary girls? they claim that they must be dreaming when they find out that they're in Suna. are these girls crazy? No. they're from
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

"Kankuro! Give me back my fan!"

"Eh, eh. _I'm_ not holding your fan."

"AHHHH!" Temari yelled, spinning around and facing her younger brother. Her face began turning a dark, dark red, darker than Gaara's hair color. "_Kankuro!_" she growled through gritted teeth. "_Don't you ever scare me like that again with you and your stupid little puppets!_" She shoved Kankuro away in the chest, fuming.

"Oh yeah?" Kankuro asked cockily, holding Temari's huge fan in his right hand. He set it down on the ground and leaned against it. "And what if I—" His sentence was cut off as Temari's hands wrapped around his throat, clutching firmly.

"_Give it back, Kankuro!_" Temari said, her eyes blazing as she began pushing her little brother to the ground on his knees.

Kankuro weakly handed Temari her huge fan and several moments later, Temari released him. Kankuro grabbed his neck with his hands, gasping for air. "You're the devil," Kankuro said between gasps.

"And you're a friekin' five-year-old who still plays with her dolls," Temari spat angrily, slipping her fan back into place.

"Temari!" Gaara yelled from further up the road. "Quit playing with Kankuro and get up here. We're on a mission, remember?"

"Yes, Gaara!" Temari yelled up to her youngest brother. She sighed impatiently.

She. Had. Absolutely. No. Life. At. All.

Temari looked over her shoulder and snorted. She walked over and meekly kicked Kankuro's puppet Scarecrow, which lay limp on the ground. "It's time to pick up your toys, Kankuro," she sneered over her shoulders. Then she added, "Oh, and don't even think about flipping me the finger. I know you're half-way into doing so, so just save yourself the effort."

"Witch," Kankuro spat, thinking a different word in his head.

Temari grinned over at the older of her two younger brothers. "Don't forget it, bro," she said smugly, before turning her head and walking over toward Gaara. Temari was about to say something to Gaara, who had stopped in the middle of the road much further up from where Kankuro had been, when she saw the serious look on his face. It wasn't that it was anything unusual for Gaara to look serious, but, it was almost a surprised serious look.

"What's going on?" Temari asked, looking up ahead of them.

Temari's eyes widened a bit when she saw three bodies lying on the road, all limp and looking like deadweights. "What's going on?" Temari repeated, walking over to one of the bodies. She saw that the bodies were all girls. One was wearing a pink T-shirt and jeans and had sandy brown hair. One had shoulder-length brown hair that looked like it had some serious highlights, and she was wearing a red T-shirt and jeans. And the last girl had bright red hair that was pulled back, and she was wearing a jean jacket, a green shirt and jeans.

Temari pulled her fan off of her back and nudged one of the girls, the girl with shoulder-length brown hair, with the end of it. The girl let out a slight moan and her eyes started flickering as she began to come to. Temari backed up a little bit, setting her arm on top of the fan as she watched the girl begin to wake up.

"Where am I?" the girl muttered, holding her hand on her forehead as she sat up.

"Sunagakure," Temari said in a duh voice. "Where else would you be?"

"Sunagakure?" the girl muttered. "What are you—" she said, looking up. She looked up at Temari and her eyes widened a bit. "Holy cow," she said. "I _so_ must be dreaming."

"You're not dreamin', kid," Temari said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "What are you and your friends doing on the ground?"

"Me and my friends?" the girl asked, turning her head and looking at the other two kids. "Jessica? Krystal?" She shook the other two by their shoulders. The other two girls let out slight moans as they began to wake up. They slowly sat up, holding onto their foreheads like the first girl had.

Temari frowned as she watched the girls. _Dang. These girls look like they're waking up with a killer hangover._

The three girls suddenly turned over and started vomiting. Temari threw a hand in the air and walked in a small circle around her fan before standing where she had been before and placing a hand on her hip. When the three girls were done throwing up, they sat back down normally, looking exhausted.

"Who are you three?" Temari asked.

The first girl looked up at her. "This is a dream, isn't it?" she asked.

"No," Temari said. "This is reality. Now, what's going on? Who are you three?"

"Temari?" the redhead asked in surprise.

Temari was surprised. "You know who I am?" she asked.

The girl nodded. "Yeah. I'm Jessie."

"I'm Clarissa," the first girl said.

"And I'm Kyrstal," the third girl said. "Now, can you please explain to me how you two know who these people are when I have absolutely no clue, Clarissa?" she asked, looking at the first girl.

Clarissa scowled at Krystal, but it was Jessie who beat her to answering. "I guess this is what you get for dissing manga." Kyrstal glared at Jessie.

"Son of a—" Knowing where that sentence was heading, Temari cut Krystal off. "Okay then," she said. "Mind explaining to _me_ how you know who I am?"

Jessie looked up at Temari. "Let's just say we do, and leave it there. It'd be too hard to explain." She suddenly perked up. "Hey, if you're here, that must mean…" An evil grin came to her face and she chuckled in a voice that made Temari want to hit her over the head with her fan. Jessie, Clarissa and Kyrstal got to their feet and looked around.

"So we're in Sunakagure?" Clarissa asked.

"Village Hidden in the Sand," Jessie said in an awed voice.

"That's Sunagakure all right," Kankuro said, walking up. His eyes widened a bit when he saw the three girls. "Three girls?" he asked in surprise. Temari noticed that Kankuro was looking at one person in particular, with a particularly perverted look in his eyes that made Temari want to barf herself. With one swift movement she pulled her fan off of her back and hit Kankuro over the back of the head with it.

"_Baka!_" she yelled.

Gaara, who had walked up with Kankuro, was staring at the three girls still. Only he had a blank expression on his face, as usual. But even if he had been looking _that_ way at the girls, there was only a one in a hundred million chances Temari would have hit him over the head with the fan. She valued her life.

Temari looked back at the girls. "You ninjas?" she asked.

They all shook their heads. "No," they said in unison. Temari relaxed a little bit, although she sure didn't let down her guard.

"Hmm," she said. "Probably not. Don't look like ninja material anyway."

Jessie snapped her head from looking at Gaara to glaring at Temari. "What'd you say?" she spat angrily.

"Oh no," Clarissa and Krystal said in unison, shaking their heads.

Jessie suddenly leapt at Temari. Temari swiftly moved her fan in front of her, blocking Jessie from her. Jessie grabbed the fan, lifted it up, and kicked as hard as she could up. Temari felt a jolt of pain rise from beneath, and felt herself fly backwards several feet with her fan still in her hand. Temari moaned slightly as she got to her feet. Gaara blinked and just glared. Kankuro meanwhile, was laughing his head off.

"Hey, Temari!" he laughed. "You got beaten by an amateur!"

Temari glared at Kankuro and stood up. With one movement, she unfolded her fan and swung it hard to the side. A sudden gust of wind blasted from the fan and hit Kankuro, sending him flying back a hundred feet. "Who's the amateur now?" Temari asked angrily.

"Hey, Jessie," Krystal laughed. "She's just like—"

Clarissa's hand quickly covered Krystal's mouth, drowning out her sentence. "Don't even think about saying it, Krystal," she said. "I value my life too much."

Temari could just make out the word, "Fine," from Krystal's drowned out comment.

Clarissa took her hand off of Krystal's mouth. "So," she said. "Could you guys show us around?"

"What?" Temari asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Jessie said, obviously having calmed down by now. "Could you show us around Sunagakure?"

"Love to," Temari lied. "But we're on a mission, and we've got to get going. It'll take us a couple of days, and no, you can't come with us, if that's what you're thinking." She pointed in the direction they had come. "Go that way and you'll soon reach a city. After that, who cares what you do." She shoved past Jessie and began walking down the road past them.

"Hey, watch it, girlie," Jessie said in a daring voice.

"Whatever," Temari said, shrugging off the warning and just kept walking. Soon, Gaara and Kankuro had caught up and Gaara was standing in the middle between his two older siblings. "Can you believe the nerve of that girl?" Temari said in a growl. "Challenging me like that."

"She beat you, didn't she?" Gaara asked.

Temari heard Kankuro chuckle and wanted more than anything to slug him over the head again with her fan. But she would have to get through Gaara first.

_So long to **that** idea._

* * *

A/N: Okay, everyone. These aren't the only three kids who get thrust into the Naruto world. Nope. There are nine other kids who do as well. The rest will be in Konohagakure though, not in Suna. And just to let you know, this story is supposed to take place approximately three months after the Chunin Exams ended. But because of a certain squashy friend of mine who hits me every time I find out even a single spoiler, I don't know what happens in the time-line. There will be another Chunin Exams in this before the time-skip. Yes, everyone! There is a time-skip! Orochimaru will be in this story. A lot of people will be in this story. But a lot of people will also not be in the story. Please R&R, and please continue reading this story. Warning: I want to warn you that I have a very odd and bad habit of not updating very often. Sometimes I'll update every other day, and sometimes it'll take a week or two for me to update. Sorry about that.

A/N2 (apology note): Sorry if this chapter was kind of dull. Hope you liked it somewhat. Please let me know what you thought of it. Thanks!


	2. Real Chapter Two: Strangers Into Friends

Chapter Two: Strangers Into Friends

Hinata dodged Kiba's attack and spun around to face him as he spun around as well. She leapt at him and thrust her left hand into Kiba's chest. She began pushing against him.

"Get him!" a voice inside her yelled. Kiba, his eyes wide in surprise, suddenly began coughing up blood. He backed away, grabbing his stomach as he continued coughing up blood.

Hinata couldn't help but smile in shock and joy. "I, I did it," she said.

"Good job, Hinata," Shino said, smiling as he walked over. "You okay, Kiba?"

Kiba, who had stopped coughing up blood by now, coughed normally and nodded. "Yeah," he said in a dry voice. "Good job, Hinata."

"I, I'm sorry I hurt you, K-Kiba," Hinata said, frowning.

Kiba shook his head. "No need," he said, his voice going back to normal. "You really did do a good job. I can't believe you finally mastered that move."

Hinata beamed.

"Congratulations, Hinata," Kurenai said, walking over. She set a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "You did a good job."

"And speaking of jobs," Kiba said with a smile.

Hinata and Shino grinned at each other and at Kiba. Kurenai gave her students a smile and put her hands on her hips. "Yes, Kiba?" she asked.

"Isn't it time for your date with Master Asuma?" Shino asked, walking behind Kurenai and to her other side. Kurenai hung her head and chuckled. She lifted her head and shook it as she grinned at her students.

"You know," she said. "I swear the only reason you three and Asuma's team came up with this crazy idea to pair us up together and send us on dates was so that you can get out of training half an hour earlier."

"If the shoe fits," Hinata said, grinning.

Kurenai shook her head and rested a hand on Kiba's head. "You kids," she said. "What I do for you three. I don't know why I do what I do for you, but I do."

"Because we're the best students you've ever had," Kiba said, pushing Kurenai's hand off of his head.

Kurenai chuckled and nodded. "I'll see you three later," she said. She turned around and walked away from the training grounds.

Hinata, Shino and Kiba chuckled once Kurenai was gone.

"Master Kurenai seems a lot happier now that she's going out with Master Asuma," Hinata said.

"I have to agree with you," Shino said, grinning.

"And life sure has gotten easier for us now that we have half an hour less of training," Kiba said with a grin.

"Arf!" Akamaru barked in agreement.

Hinata suddenly heard a faint sound, almost like a moan. She turned her head in the direction she heard it from. "What was that?" she asked.

"What was what?" Kiba asked, frowning.

"That noise," Hinata said. "I thought I heard something."

Akamaru stood with his ears pricked slightly, sniffing the air. He barked several times and suddenly darted off.

"What the—," Kiba said. "Akamaru! Wait!" he yelled, running after the small white dog.

"Kiba!" Hinata yelled, running after Kiba, Shino running beside her.

Soon Hinata and Shino saw Kiba standing ahead, Akamaru standing at his side. Kiba was on one knee, a hand on Akamaru's neck so that he would stay put.

"Kiba," Shino scolded. "Don't just run off like that. You _and_ Akamaru. What are you gawking at?" he asked when he saw that Kiba was staring at something down the hill they were standing on.

Shino and Hinata walked up and stood on either side of Kiba and looked down the hill. What they saw surprised them. Lying on the ground were three bodies, all limp and motionless. One was a girl's body. The other two were male. The girl had waist-length light, wavy brown hair and was wearing a black T-shirt without sleeves and black shorts that came down to her knees. Standing next to the girl was a beautiful golden, white and black dog, nudging her with his nose.

One of the boys had brown hair almost cut like a bowl cut and somewhat abnormally thick eyebrows. They weren't huge like Gai or Lee's, but they were bigger than most. He wore a grey T-shirt and jeans.

The third kid made Hinata blush slightly. He wore an orange jacket, a blue T-shirt and jeans. His hair was bright blonde and he had pale skin. All three kids had backpacks on their backs. The girl had a black backpack, the brown-haired boy had a dark blue backpack and the blonde had an orange backpack.

As Hinata looked down at the boy, she saw someone else. For a split second as she first looked at him, she swore it was someone else she knew. Shino looked over at Hinata and frowned when he saw the look on her face.

"He really looks like him, doesn't he?" he asked. "The blonde."

"Yeah," Kiba said. Akamaru let out a whine of agreement.

Hinata didn't even seem to notice Shino's comment as she stared down at the blonde boy.

"Let's go help them," she said, not stuttering at all. This time her voice was firm, not shaky like normal. "They don't look well."

Without waiting for her teammates to reply, Hinata began walking down the hill. She walked over to the girl and gently shook her shoulder.

The girl opened her eyes and let out a slight moan as she began to sit up. "What happened?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Hinata said. "W-We just found y-you and those two lying here." "What?" the girl said.

"That voice." She turned her head and stared at Hinata, like she was some stranger, although that was true. "Hinata?" she asked in confusion. "Hyuga Hinata?"

Hinata nodded. "That's me," she said. "I'm H-Hinata."

"But," the girl said. "That would mean I'm in the Naruto world. That's impossible."

"N-Naruto?" Hinata asked in surprise. "Y-You know Naruto?"

"Not personally," the girl said. "But yeah, I know of him. So, this isn't a dream?"

Hinata shook her head. "No. This is real. You're awake and conscious."

Hinata suddenly heard a whine and looked over to see the strange dog nuzzling the girl in the shoulder.

"Dewie!" the girl exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the dog's neck and hugging him close. "Oh thank goodness you're okay."

The dog whined again, his long and hairy golden tail wagging back and forth as he licked the girl's face. Hinata smiled. It was like seeing Kiba and Akamaru.

"Wh-Who are you?" she asked. "What's your name?"

The girl smiled over at Hinata. "I'm Joe," she said. "And this is Dewie, my dog."

"Do you know those two?" Hinata asked, looking over at the other two strangers, who were being woken up by Akamaru's barking.

Dewie suddenly perked up and whined playfully, shifting happily on his feet. Akamaru turned his head and barked happily when he saw Dewie. The two dogs ran at each other and began playing chase, Akamaru chasing Dewie. Joe and Hinata laughed as they watched the two dogs.

Joe looked back over at the two boys and scowled. "Yeah," she said in a sour voice. "I know them. The brown-haired one is Timmy and the blonde is Kyler."

"Kyler?" Hinata asked. "Interesting name."

"What's going on?" the boy named Kyler asked, rubbing his forehead. "What are we doing in the middle of a forest? Who are you?" he asked, looking up at Shino and Kiba, who were staring down at him and the boy named Timmy.

"Aburame Shino," Shino said.

"Inuzuka Kiba," Kiba said. "Who are you?"

"Kyler," Kyler said.

"Timmy," the other boy said.

"You're not Shino and Kiba," Kyler said. "Shino and Kiba are fictional ninjas."

"They're not exactly fictional anymore, now are they?" Joe asked in a smart-allec voice.

Kyler looked over at Joe. "Great," he said. "Of all the people I had to land with, it had to be you."

"I feel the same way, Weasel," Joe said.

"Weasel?" Hinata asked in surprise. "I thought you said that his name was Kyler."

"It is," Joe said. "Let's just say that his nickname is 'Weasel' and in a sense he's my cousin. You'll probably hear me call him cousin pretty often, but don't ask why, and that includes you, Kiba," she said, glaring over at Kiba, who had opened his mouth while looking at her. Kiba closed his eyes and glared over at Joe. The look on his face said, _Big mouth._

"Hey," Joe said. "Could you guys show us Konoha?"

"What?" Kiba asked.

Kyler nodded. "Yeah. Could you guys show us around the Leaf Village?"

"It'd help us out a lot," Timmy said.

Hinata shrugged. "S-Sure," she said. "I d-don't mind."

"Me either," Shino said.

"I guess I don't mind," Kiba said. "But we might have trouble with leaving."

"Why?" Timmy said.

"Because Dewie and Akamaru are wrestling," Joe said.

Everyone looked over and saw Akamaru wrestling playfully with Dewie, although Dewie was underneath and was unsurprisingly winning.

Joe stood up. "Dewie!" she said.

"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled. Dewie and Akamaru suddenly stopped and looked over at their masters.

"Come here," Joe and Kiba said in unison.

Dewie and Akamaru scrambled off of each other and ran over to stand in front of their masters. They sat down at their master's feet and lowered their heads shamefully, looking sad. Joe and Kiba both looked down at their dogs, then smiled affectionately down at them.

"Good boy, Dewie," Joe said, rubbing the top of Dewie's head. Dewie licked her hand.

"Come on, Akamaru," Kiba said, holding a hand out.

Akamaru smiled and jumped up onto Kiba's arm, running up onto his head.

"Let's go," Joe said. "It's mid-afternoon. Day's a wastin', people."

"She's right," Kyler said. He looked from side to side. "Who said that?"

Hinata giggled. Timmy grinned. Joe grinned and rolled her eyes. Kiba grinned. Shino smiled.

As the group began walking down the main road toward Konoha, Shino looked over at Joe, whose dog Dewie was walking at her left side. _Interesting girl,_ he thought._ I look at her and I see a smart-allec girl with a sour disposition, and a wide variety of smart-allec comments. But when she looks at her dog or is looking him in the eye, I see something different in her eyes. Her blue eyes seem to turn a soft blue-grey that are filled with affection. Which person is she? The affectionate girl, or the hard-core smart-allec kid she makes herself out to be?_

"Well, we're here," Kiba said as they reached the gates of Konoha. The six kids and two dogs stepped into the town and looked around.

Shino noticed the three strangers' faces light up as they looked around. "What was your guys' Village like?" he asked.

Joe frowned. "Different," she said. "Very different from Konohagakure."

"Would you not call it that?" Kyler asked.

"Why?" Joe asked.

Timmy scowled. "Because we can't say it ourselves and we can't remember how to say it."

Joe rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said.

"Wait a minute," a voice said. "I recognize those voices. Joe? Timmy? Kyler?"

The six kids and two dogs turned and saw a group of kids standing a little ways away. Shino recognized Team 10 standing with three strange kids. One was a girl with mid-back jet-black hair and brown eyes. She wore a red T-shirt and jeans. There were two boys as well. One had dark brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing a red sweatshirt and jeans. The other kid had black hair and was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans.

"Christy?" Joe asked in surprise.

"Matt?" Timmy asked.

"Andrew?" Kyler asked.

"In the flesh," the black-haired kid said.

"So you three landed in Konoha too?" Joe asked.

Christy nodded. "Yeah. Only we woke up near Team 10's training grounds. It looks like you three landed near Team 8. Hey, Dewie," Christy said, kneeling down and letting Dewie run over to her. She rubbed Dewie's head and smiled at him as he wagged his tail. "I bet you and Akamaru are good friends by now."

"They're friends," Kiba and Joe said in unison, both grinning.

"Are you three going to talk to Tsunade?" Joe asked. "You mean, about becoming Shinobi?" Christy asked.

"Yeah," Andrew said in a duh voice.

"You mean we can become ninja?" Kyler asked.

Joe shrugged. "If Tsunade, the Village leader, says so, I guess. You know the way to Tsunade's office, don't you, Christy?"

"What do you think I am? A—" Christy began.

Joe cut her off, grinning. "I'm not trying to offend you. Can you get us there?" Christy sighed.

"Yes," she said in a drawled out voice. "Come on." She turned around. "Thanks, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji."

"No problem, kid," Shikamaru said lazily.

"Whatever," Ino said. Choji was munching on his potato chips, but nodded to Christy in acknowledgement.

Joe, Kyler and Timmy faced Team 8. "Thanks for bringing us this far," Joe said.

"But with Christy's dear sense of direction, we should reach Tsunade's office in three hours," Kyler said. "Before dark."

Joe hit Kyler over the head hard with her hand. "Idiot," she said. "That's me who has the 'dear sense of direction.' So don't go accusing Christy of that."

Shino smiled in amusement. This girl was one problem lined up right after another. Joe looked back at Team 8. "We'll go now," she said. "Thanks for the help. We'll see ya around."

"Yeah," Timmy said. "See ya."

"Adios," Kyler said. The three kids turned around and walked away with Christy, Andrew and Matthew, down the road and deeper into Konoha.

"Hmm," Shino said as he watched the six kids walk down the street.

"What?" Kiba asked. "What's going through your mind, Shino?"

"Nothing," Shino lied. _Most interesting,_ he thought as he watched Joe._ She's strong-willed, protective, loyal, and unpredictable. Maybe this girl'll be a better ninja than I thought._ Please R&R


	3. Tsunade's Verdict

Chapter Three: Tsunade's Verdict Joe walked down the road with Christy on her right side and Dewie on her left. While on the outside she looked strong and confident, on the inside she was shaking violently as she thought of what had happened before she had woken up in Konoha. "_Twenty-three bottles of beer on the wall, twenty-three bottles of beer," the twelve choir members sang. "Take one down, pass it around, twenty-two bottles of beer on the wall."_ _The group laughed as Jessie passed out the glass bottles of Root Beer and the lid opener after opening her own drink. "I can't believe we're finally going on the trip," Clarissa said._ "_I know," Joe said. "It's seemed like forever since we found out that we were going this early."_ "_Hey, Joe," Christy said. "I'm surprised you're not on your laptop listening to amvs. That's all you've been doing the last several days."_ _Joe grinned. "I know. But my ears are still sore from listening to the music so much. Besides, nothing beats drinking Root Beer while singing 'ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall.'"_ "_Hey, guys!" Mr. Koch called from the front. "We're about to go over some pretty rocky ground here. So prepare yourselves."_ _Joe grabbed onto the seat ahead of her and looked out the window and down the steep cliff. The mountains they were driving on had a sudden drop off near the edge of the road. Only the metal rail stood between the drop off and the bus. The drop off was about sixty feet, ending in a bunch of rocks. Joe shrugged it off and looked at her friends, who were talking casually. She sighed as she thought of Dewie, who was sitting in the back of the van behind the bus in a kennel._ _Joe suddenly felt the ground beneath them begin to rumble and she clutched onto the seat in front of her."What's going on?" Christy asked from the seat across from Joe._ "_I'm not sure," Mr. Koch said from the front of the bus that he was driving. "Something's wrong."_ _Joe got to her feet and made her way toward the front of the bus. "Joe!" Mrs. Koch scolded Joe. "Get back into your seat."_ "_Not yet," Joe said. "I want to check something." She looked at all of the buttons in front of Mr. Koch. "You're right," she said. "Something's wrong. But nothing here is off."_ "_Get back to your seat, Joe," Mr. Koch commanded. "That's an order."_ _Joe felt the bus begin to take a new direction, swerving from side to side across the road. "What's going on?" Matthew yelled from the back of the bus, where the kids were freaking out._ "_Joe!" Jessie yelled. "Get back here!"_ "_Go, Joe!" Mrs. Koch commanded._ _Joe couldn't take her eyes off of the road ahead of them. Her eyes were huge as she realized what was going to happen to them. But she couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She couldn't feel herself breathe. She saw the bus head straight for the metal rail, still swerving, but heading straight for it._ _Joe suddenly spun around. "Duck, everyone!" she yelled._ "_What?" Jessie yelled._ "_Hid the ground!" Joe yelled. The eleven other kids and Mrs. Koch all dropped to the ground, protecting themselves._ _Joe wanted to move to the ground, but turned her head just as the bush hit the metal rail, crashing straight through. Joe spun around and fell to her knees, covering her head and neck with her hands. Joe heard screams drown on and on in her ears._ _Joe suddenly heard glass crashing and felt piercings all over her back. She let out a scream of pain and heard other screams combining with her own._ "_Joe!"_ "Joe?" Christy's voice woke Joe from her thoughts. She looked over at her friend and saw a perplexed look on Christy's face. "You okay?" Christy asked. Joe realized she had been clenching her fists and shaking slightly. She nodded, calming down a bit. Christy nodded. "Well, we're here." Joe turned her head and saw that Christy was right. They were just a few yards away from a large building. "Let's go," Christy said, leading the group into the building, Joe right behind her. When they walked in, the kids walked up a flight of stairs until they reached a hallway and where Christy stopped at a door. She opened the door up and led everyone through. Inside, they saw a woman sitting on a desk, facing three boys. Three other kids stood in front of the woman, six feet away that is. Their eyes were wide and wary as they stared at… her. Joe's eyes widened in surprise when she recognized the three people. "Greg!" she and Christy exclaimed in unison. "Alex! Jordan!" The three boys turned their heads and grinned. "Hey," Greg said. "You three made it too, huh?" "Yeah," Joe said. "Obviously." The woman entwined her legs together, leaning back on her hands. "I'm guessing that you six must be six of the kids on the bus with these three before you were all knocked out," she said. Joe nodded. "Yes. I'm Joe and this is my dog Dewie." Dewie had sat down beside Joe.  
"I'm Timmy," Timmy said. "I'm Kyler," Kyler said. "I'm Christy," said Christy. "I'm Matthew," Matt said. "And I'm Andrew," Andrew said. "And these three boys are Alex, Jordan and Greg as you apparently seem to know," the woman said. "And I'm Tsunade, the Hokage of Village Hidden in the Leaves." "Tsunade-sama," Joe said. "I'm curious. Would it be possible for us to become Shinobi?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "You want to become a Shinobi?" "Yes, Hokage-sama," Christy said, nodding. "I wish to become a Shinobi also." "So do I," Kyler said. "Do all of you feel that way?" Tsunade asked. Everyone else nodded. Tsunade frowned. "Hmm. I guess that'll be all right. You'll have to take some classes at the academy to figure out what teams you'll be on. It's four o'clock, so it shouldn't take you that long to take the written test and show us what you know." "Even though we have absoloutely no experience as ninjas?" Christy asked. Tsunade nodded. "Then we'll know what teacher to give you, who you'll do well with, and where to begin your training. I have a couple of teachers who will give you some tests." She stood up. "Stay here." She walked out of the office. Joe let out a deep breath several moments after Tsunade left the room. "I didn't think she'd say yes," she said. "I think it's brilliant that you asked," Christy said. "I hadn't even thought of the possibility of us becoming ninjas." "Neither had I," Kyler said. "Um, guys," Greg said. He, Jordan and Alex all looked ready to vomit. "Are those real?" "What?" Christy asked. Joe pulled her backpack off of her back and swung it, hitting Greg in the back of the head. "Baka!" she exclaimed. "Ow!" Greg exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head. "Could you hit any harder?" "You really wanna know?" Joe asked. "Not really," Greg said honestly. "What did you do that for?" Matt asked. "He was asking if her jugs were real," Joe said. The guys began coughing, or gagging actually. Several minutes later, the door opened and Tsunade stepped into the room, along with several other people. Joe and Christy recognized them. "Iruka," Joe said. "Anko." Christy said, "Ibiki." "Yes," Tsunade said. "Although I'm not sure how you know them. These are the three who will be testing you." "So you nine are the ones we're to test," Anko said. Joe had pulled her backpack back on over her shoulders and was now standing behind Greg with her hands around his throat in attempt to keep him from flying at Anko. He was in _love_ with her. "Yes," Christy said. "Okay," Anko said. "Come with me. I'm going to test you on your knowledge. Ibiki here will also give you aknowledge test, but our tests will be different. Follow me." She turned around and began walking out of the office. The nine kids followed behind, Dewie at Joe's side. "Joe," Timmy said. "Leave your annoying mutt behind." "Like hell I will," Joe said. "Dewie comes with me and trains with me." "Is that allowed?" Matt asked, looking at Anko. Anko grinned back at them. "The Inuzuka Clan is famous for their 'dogy' traits. Inuzuka Kiba trains and does jutsus with his dog. Using an animal as part of a user's jutsus is very much legal." "Geeze," Timmy said to Joe in a dark voice. "I'd hate to be on _your_ team." Joe just rolled her eyes. Soon, the group reached a door. Anko opened the door up and let the kids walk in. They all looked around the room and realized it was an empty classroom with twelve rows of desks lined up in three straight collumns next to each other in the back of the room with each row behind the one before on a different level above it, and there was a desk to the front left of the room. Christy and Joe sat down in the top row on the left with Dewie lying down at Joe's feet next to the aisle, Timmy and Matthew sat on the row beneath them, Kyler and Andrew sat on the row next to the bottom, and Greg, Jordan and Alex sat at the desk on the bottom row. "All right," Anko said, holding one hand on her hip and the other was holding a stack of papers and pencils that she had just picked up off of the desk. "These are tests that each of you will take. It's more a test on… Well, let's just say it's a test on some things you'll need to know as a ninja, and some things that have come in handy for other ninjas." She slapped a test and pencil on the desk in front of each kid. "You have half an hour," she said. "Don't waste it." A/N: Oh, he, he, he. I'm going to soooo love writing this next chapter. Ibiki, Iruka and Anko all give us a test, and only a certain number of us pass. Then you'll find out who I put on which team. Take a guess at who's going to be on what team. R&R. 


	4. The Tests

Chapter Four: The Tests

Joe looked down at the test and raised an eyebrow as she read the first question. She flipped the seven other pages of the test. A grin came to her face. _This is just simple science, math and Shinobi history,_ she thought. _All easy as pie. I'm sure glad I pay attention to my manga._ She began scribbling down the answers to each of the questions.

Christy groaned as she ran a hand through her hair. _Dang it,_ she moaned in her mind._ Why can't I ever remember this stupid stuff? Who ever thought that science, history and math would ever be used in life?_

Anko was sitting on her chair at her desk, her feet propped on the desk and crossed as she scribbled notes down onto the clipboard that she had been carrying since Tsunade told her to come to meet nine kids who would become genin. She looked at the names and glanced up at the students without moving her head. she stared mainly at the two girls.

_Christy and Joe_, she thought. _Two interesting girls. They don't seem intimidated by the boys, nor do they seem afraid to speak up. From what Hokage-sama said to us, those two were the ones who asked if they could become Shinobi, Joe speaking up first._ She raised an eyebrow as she looked at Joe, who was scribbling down answers like mad, not stopping at all._ Interesting. While her comrades are having to think hard about the answers, they seem to pop into her head like magic._ Finally, Joe slapped her pencil down onto the desk and flipped the test over so that it lay face up.

Anko lifted her head. "Are you done?" she asked, surprised that it had only taken twenty minutes.

Joe nodded. "Completely."

Anko got to her feet and walked up to Joe's desk. She picked up the test and walked back down to her own. She sat down and got comfortable again before she compared the answers. She raised an eyebrow in surprise. _These answers are perfect! _She exclaimed in her mind. _She really knows her anatomy, math and Shinobi history. How does she know this stuff when she comes from a whole different country where they don't have Shinobi?_

"I'm done," Kyler said several minutes later, turning his test over face up.

"Same here," Christy said, turning her test face-up.

"Diddo," Andrew said.

Anko took the three tests and began grading them, marking the wrong answers.

Five minutes later, Anko stood up. "All right," she said. "Done or not, I want your tests."

"Just finished," Timmy said.

"Same here," Matt said in agreement.

"Almost made it," Greg said, sighing.

Anko took the remaining tests and set them on her desk. She turned her head when she heard a knock on the door. She saw Ibiki walk in. "Just in time," she said. "They've finished their tests. Time for you to take over, Ibiki."

"You got it, Anko," Ibiki said. "You nine," he said to the kids. "Follow me."

The nine kids and one dog got to their feet and followed Ibiki out of the classroom. Anko sat at her desk and began grading the tests. When she was done, she had all nine tests spread out around on her desk with the scores written on them. She ran a hand through her hair. There was a sudden blast of smoke from in front of Anko's desk. She looked up and saw Tsunade standing in the smoke with her hands on her hips and an expectant look in her eyes.

"Well?" Tsunade asked.

Anko sighed and leaned back in her chair, looking up at Tsunade. "Joe, eighty-nine our of ninety-three," she said. "Christy, seventy-nine out of ninety-three. Timmy, seventy-five out of ninety-three. Andrew, seventy-five. Matthew, sixty-eight. Kyler, seventy-eight. And the last three who didn't finish, don't even want to say their scores."

"What do you think?" Tsunade asked.

Anko sighed. "I'm not sure, Lord Hokage. It was only a written test after all."

"Your best guess," Tsunade said.

Anko looked Tsunade in the eye. "I think that if they fight as nearly as sharp as they talk, that Joe and Christy could fight like illegal firworks on New Years Eve and beat the shit out of even Mist's ninjas."

Tsunade smirked. "My thoughts exactly."

"If it were up to me," Anko said. "My theory is that if twelve and thirteen-year-old kids can take a nine-page test in half an hour, than they're more than qualified to train to become Shinobi."

Tsunade smiled. "Let's see what Ibiki and Iruka think. They'll become genin if they can complete even one of the tasks. Who would you put together as teammates out of these kids? Is there any particular student you want."

Anko, who had been fidgeting with her necklace and looking at her feet, stopped and looked up at Tsunade again.

* * *

Ibiki stared at the nine kids who sat at the desks in front of him, staring at him in shock. What was so hard to grasp about this consept? 

"Yes," Ibiki repeated. "You will be taking yet another writen test."

"What the heck was that last test for then?" Greg exclaimed.

"It's not like you finished it anyway, Kyubi," Joe said.

"Shut up," Greg snapped.

Ibiki froze, staring at Joe. Did this girl know about the Kyubi? Did she know about the nine-tailed demon fox? How?

Ibiki handed each test out. "Here are your tests. Take them. You have twenty minutes." He didn't hand Joe a test, but set a hand on her desk, staring her in the eye. "You," he said in a firm voice.

Joe stared Ibiki in the eye, not showing any signs of fear or intimidation. "Yes?" she asked in an annoyed voice.

"Come with me," Ibiki said.

"Oooh," came voices all around the room as Joe got to her feet.

Joe shot a deadly glare at all of the kids around the room. Dewie began to follow her, when Joe waved back. He laid down and set his head on his paws.

Ibiki stepped outside of the classroom and held his hand out to Joe. "Grab onto my arm."

Joe obeyed without question or comment. Ibiki transported them and a moment later, they reappeared in Tsunade's office. Joe leaned against the wall, her hands in her pockets as she waited patiently.

A moment later, the door opened and Tsunade stepped in. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Ibiki and Joe. "What's going on?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be watching over nine kids who are taking a test?"

"I brought this one here to you because of something she said out loud," Ibiki said.

Joe raised an eyebrow, understanding now what he was talking about.

"And what's that?" Tsunade asked, folding her arms.

"The Kyubi," Ibiki said.

Tsunade stiffened and her eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Ibiki said.

Tsunade turned to Joe. "Is this true?" she asked.

"As true as the fact that you're Hokage," Joe said.

"Do you know what the Kyubi is?" Tsunade asked. "Do you know what she did to us, to our Village?"

"Yes," Joe said, not moving from her position at all. "I do. Twelve years ago, the Kyubi, or the nine-tailed demon fox, was released. It began destroying all of the Leaf Village, and if it weren't for the Fourth Hokage sacrificing himself in order to seal it within a baby, it would have destroyed everything. That baby also happens to be the boy and genin Uzamaki Naruto."

Tsunade frowned, her eyes narrowing slightly. "How do you know all of this?" she asked. Joe frowned. "It's complicated. What are you going to do? My friends and I have called Greg up there Kyubi for months, even though it's not considered a nickname here. But I also know that the Third Hokage decreed that anyone who even whispered the name and what happened then to Naruto were severely punished, and I said it loud and clear in front of nine people."

Tsunade frowned. "Since you didn't say anything directly about the past, I guess you're fine. But don't say anything about the relationship between Naruto and the Nine-tailed Demon Fox. If it happens again then I'll have to punish you."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Joe said.

Tsunade nodded. "Ibiki. Take her away to the room with the other kids. I need to think." Ibiki nodded and walked out of the office with Joe.

Once gone, Tsunade leaned against her desk and sighed. "Damn it," she said. "For a moment I thought that Joe would be a great ninja. Now, I'm afraid she might unravel what's taken twelve years to keep a secret. I'm going to have to watch out for her from now on, have someone watch out over her."

* * *

"We all made it?" Jordan asked in surprise. 

Ibiki sighed. "For the third time, all of you except for you, Greg and Alex. Greg got the highest score of all you three, and his was so pittifuly low, that it's embaressing." The three sixth graders scowled angrily. Ibiki grinned. "But there is a way for you to make up for your mistakes." The sixth graders perked up. Ibiki nodded. "A simple question, for someone like me that is. I'll give you one question, and if you answer it correctly, you'll pass. But if you don't…" He chuckled.

"What?" Jordan demanded, growing angry. Ibiki looked at the kid. "Then you'll fail on all of your tests immedietely. None of you three will be able to become genin."

Joe, Christy, Andrew and Kyler all smiled, knowing what was going on inside Ibiki's head.

Ibiki continued looking at the sixth graders. "But first, you must choose whether or not to accept the question."

"I'm takin' it!" Greg exclaimed.

"Um," Jordan said uneasily. "I'm not sure about this."

"Me either," Alex said.

Joe rolled her eyes. "You have _got _to be kidding me," she muttered under her breath, resting her head on her hands. "Just take the frien' question, guys!" she said out loud.

"Shut up!" Alex snapped back.

Joe dropped her head on her hands. "You accept this question and you automaticly become genin," she muttered. Christy sighed. "Don't worry, Joe," she said. "They're just a bunch of idiots. Greg's already in. If they don't accept this, then they'll have another chance with Iruka."

"There's no way they'll pass Iruka's test," Joe said, lifting her head and looking at Christy. "I wouldn't be surprised if he works with us and has us transform or make a replica of ourselves."

"Mmm," Christy muttered in agreement.

* * *

Five minutes later, Alex and Jordan were still discussing with each other what decision to make, and everyone else other than Ibiki had their heads on their hands as they waited. Ibiki just looked ready to kill something, or someone. 

"Just choose!" Kyler yelled impatiently.

"I'm not taking the question," Jordan said, shaking his head.

"Me either," Alex said. Each of the other kids let out moans, other than Greg. Ibiki shook his head and pointed at Greg. "Kid, you automaticly pass. You two," he pointed to Jordan and Alex. "Fail."

"What!" the three sixth graders exclaimed.

"I'm not even going to explain it," Ibiki said. "I'm leaving you nine to Iruka now. You two however," he said, glaring at Jordan and Alex. "Have just one more chance to redeme yourselves. Fail this and you'll be sent to the academy for three years."

There was a blast of smoke by the door and a moment later, Iruka was visible through the smoke. "Everyone but those two made it, huh?" Iruka asked, pointing at Jordan and Alex.

"Yes," Ibiki said. "Take them. I've got work to do."

Iruka nodded. "Follow me, kids." The kids and dog got to their feet once again and followed Iruka out of the room and down to the bottom floor. Iruka led them into a classroom and had them sit down. They sat down the same way they had in the previous room, which was set up just like this one.

Iruka stood at the front of the room with a clipboard and pencil in his left hand. "All right," he said. "Can any of you tell me what chakra is?" Joe, Kyler, Andrew and Christy all raised their hands. Iruka nodded to Christy.

"I can't explain the dictionary defintion of what they are," Christy said. "But I know that chakra is an energy source in your body. There are two sources of chakra in your body, the spiritual chakra, and the chakra you gain from experience. When the two chakras are focused together, they allow the user to perform jutsus."

Iruka nodded. "Exactly. I'm going to spend a little time with you today, attempting to teach you how to use your chakra to perform jutsus. We're going to work on the transformation jutsu. Now, I don't expect you all to be able to perform the transformation jutsu perfectly right away, but I do have my expectations. Now, who's willing to go first?"

"I am," Christy said.

Iruka nodded. "Come up here and try."

Christy got to her feet and walked down to stand next to Iruka, facing the class. She put her hands in the handseal of the tiger and began focusing. "Transform!" she yelled several moments later.

There was a blast of smoke from where Christy stood, surrounding Christy. When the smoke disappeared, there stood an Iruka. The only difference between it and the real Iruka was about two feet in height.

Iruka raised an eyebrow. _Interesting_, he thought. "Nice," he said. "Try again."

Christy transformed back and attempted the transformation again, this time getting about three inches taller.

"Very good," Iruka said, nodding. "Let's let someone else try." Christy transformed back, and then walked up to her seat.

Joe raised her hand. "I'd like to try," she said.

Iruka nodded. "Come on down then."

Joe got to her feet and signaled to Dewie to stay behind. She walked down and stood next to Iruka. She made the tiger handseal like Christy and began focusing. "Transform!" she yelled several moments later. There was a blast of smoke from beneath Joe, surrounding her. when the smoke cleared away, there was another Iruka standing there, only about three inches shorter than the real Iruka and without the scar across his nose.

Iruka was impressed. "Very nice," he said. "Let's try again."

Joe transformed back, but this time Iruka noticed a fire in her eyes. Joe closed her eyes and held her hands in the tiger seal again. "Transform!" she yelled.

This time, when the smoke cleared away, there stood a perfect clone of Iruka. Iruka smiled, impressed. "Very good," he said, checking both Joe and Christy off on his clipboard. "You can go back to your seat now." Joe transformed back and walked up to the top desk where she had been sitting next to Dewie and Christy.

"I'll go next," Kyler said, standing up and walking down next to Iruka. He held his hands in the same seal. "Transform!" he yelled. When the smoke cleared away, there stood a four-foot tall replica of the Third Hokage.

Iruka was impressed. This group really had tallent.

Wrong!

The next twenty minutes was a living nightmare for Iruka. Matt, Andrew and Timmy managed to make three very deformed replicas of Iruka, and Jordan, Alex and Greg somehow managed to make three messed up replicas of Dewie. Iruka sighed when they were done. He had marked off Joe, Kyler, Christy, Andrew, Matt and Timmy. But these three younger kids were messing up majorly.

"All right," he said. "If you three," he said to Jordan, Alex and Greg. "Can transform into a perfect replica of that dog," he said, pointing to Dewie. "Not a puppy version, but a perfect replica, then I'll pass you."

"Fine," Alex said, standing up. He walked up front and transformed. When the smoke cleared away, there stood a replica of Dewie. "Hey!" Joe exclaimed. "That's not like Dewie!"

"It looks exactly the same," Timmy said.

"It's got blue eyes!" Joe exclaimed.

"So?" Iruka asked.

"Dewie's got brown eyes!" Joe yelled.

Iruka shook his head. "It passes. You can't tell from here what color of eyes your dog has."

Alex transformed back and sighed. He had passed. Jordan nervously stood up and walked up front. He held his hand in a handseal and transformed. When the smoke cleared away, there stood another replica of Dewie, only this one had green eyes.

"What the heck!" Joe exclaimed.

"Pass," Iruka said, checking off Jordan. Jordan changed back and sat down next to his classmates. Greg stood up and transformed just like the two kids before him. When the smoke cleared away, once again there was a replica of Dewie there, only with red eyes.

Joe was fuming. "Now you three are just making fun of him!" she spat, cracking her knuckles as her blue eyes blazed.

**Three minutes later…**

Christy and Kyler were holding one of Joe's arms, pulling back as hard as they could to fight a steaming Joe. Greg, Jordan and Alex all lay on the ground, trembling with bruises all over their body. Blood streamed from Alex's mouth. Dewie meanwhile, lay on the ground next to the desk where Joe had been sitting, his paws over his eyes.

"Lemme at em!" Joe yelled. "Lemme at em!"

Iruka shook his head as he passed Greg off. She was strong. He had to give her that.

**Fiveminutes later…**

Joe sat at her desk, ropes tied around her arms and waist with her arms behind her back so that she couldn't attack anyone. Iruka had tied her up and Christy had dragged her up to her seat and sat her down.

Iruka shook his head. "I'll go give these results to Tsunade. We'll be back in a little while." With a blast of smoke, Iruka was gone.

By now, Joe had calmed down. "I wonder who'll be on what team," she said.

"I know," Christy said nervously, but smiling.

"As long as I'm not on the same team as Joe, I don't care," Timmy spat.

Joe rolled her eyes._Clueless._

"Diddo," Kyler said.

Christy shook her head. "I don't care, as long as I'm not on the same team as Kyler."

"I can't believe you beat us up over getting the eye color of your dumb dog wrong," Alex muttered, whiping the blood away from his mouth.

Joe's eyes blazed. "Did you just call my dog dumb?" she spat.

"Uhh," Alex said nervously.

Joe suddenly broke through the ropes and stood up on the desk. With a single leap, she stood on the desk in front of Alex, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

"You're so dead, pal," she spat.

* * *

Tsuande, who was sitting at her desk in her office, was looking at a crystal ball, which showed what was going on with the nine new kids. She shook her head. "An interesting girl," she said. 

"And the strongest-willed of the nine," Iruka said.

"No denying that," Ibiki said.

Tsunade nodded. "It looks like she has a short temper that releases a dark side of her. She'll be a lot to handle."

"No kidding," Ibiki said.

"Hmm," Anko said, looking into the ball as she watched Joe punch Alex in the face again.

"Well, let's go," Tsunade said, standing up. she grabbed the ten Hitai-ate headbands that sat on her desk. "It's time."

* * *

Joe was holding Alex by the throat with one hand, her eyes blazing. Everyone else stayed where they had been sitting. 

Christy sat at her deskwith her eyes closed. This was a fight she didn't have the right to interfere with.

There was suddenly a large balst of smoke at the front of the room. Everyone turned their heads and saw Tsunde standing in front of Iruka, Ibiki and Anko, who were lined up behind her in the smoke.

"Joe," Tsunade said. "Put him down and sit down."

Joe dropped Alex and walked back up to her seat and sat down.

Tsunade nodded, satisfied. "All right, all of you. It's time to announce who will be on what team."

"So we all made it?" Greg asked.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes, but some of you just barely made it," she added, glaring at the sixth graders. They glared back in annoyance. Tsunade looked at all of the kids. "I'll name off the squads and their leaders. Squad 5, led by Mitarashi Anko. Joe." Joe nodded. "Timmy." Timmy's eyes widened.

Joe smirked. "Hey, Timmy," she sneered. "Didn't you just say something earlier about hating to be on my team?"

"Shut up," Timmy muttered.

"And Kyler," Tsunade said.

"What!" Kyler and Joe all yelled, standing up and leaning against their desks, their eyes huge.

"This is like the suckiest team imaginable!" Kyler yelled.'

"Why did you put us three together?" Timmy asked angrily.

Tsunade put her hands on her hips. "Because, Timmy," she said impatiently. "Other than the three no-brains over here," she said, nodding to the sixth graders. "You had the lowest score of this group. Joe had the highest. And Kyler was smack-dead in the middle. He got the third highest scores in everything. Anyway," she said, continuing. "Squad 9, led by Iruka. Christy, Matthew, and Andrew."

Christy's eyes widened. "Why me?" she moaned, looikng up at the ceiling.

"Yes, why?" Matt groaned.

Tsunade sighed. "Need I explain it to this group? Christy had the second highest grades in the class. Andrew had the second lowest. Matthew was the fourth best. Okay, and as for the last team. Squad 6, lead by Morino Ibiki. Greg, Andrew and Jordan."

"Oh yeah!" Alex said, hitting high fives with Jordan and Greg. "This team's gonna rule the Village."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said. "Now, Squad 5, come up here and get your Leaf headbands." Joe, Kyler and Timmy got to their feet and walked down to Tsunade, Dewie at Joe's side.

Tsunade handed Kyler and Timmy their headbands first. Then she looked at Joe and handed her two black headbands. "One for you and one for your dog," she said. "I assume you plan on using him for jutsus and in your battles?"

Joe nodded. "Yes. Dewie will train with me. Right, boy?" she asked, looking down at her dog. Dewie barked in agreement.

Tsunade nodded. "Very well. Then he can have one of these headbands as well." Joe and Dewie nodded and went back up to where they had been sitting before. Timmy and Kyler returned to their seats as well.

"Squad 9," Tsunade said. "Come up and get your headbands." Christy, Andrew and Matthew got to their feet and walked down to Tsunade. They collected their headbands and then walked back to their seats.

"And Team 6," Tsunade said. "Come get your headbands." Greg, Alex and Jordan got to their feet and walked over and received their headbands before walking back to their seats.

Joe tied one of the two headbands Tsunade had given her around Dewie's neck, having the metal part hanging from the bottom part of his neck. The headbands didn't look out of place at all. In fact, the headbands looked just right on everyone. Kyler, Timmy, Andrew, Jordan and Greg all wore their headbands around their foreheads, Joe wore her headband around her forehead, and Christy and Alex wore their headbands around their necks. The black headband blended in with Joe's black T-shirt and shorts and the red headband Christy wore seemed like one with her red T-shirt. The headbands looked completely natural for all nine kids and one dog. The headbands fit and seemed like they had been made for their owners.

Joe smiled. "We're officially genin," she said.

"Right on," Christy said. The two best friends hit high fives.

Tsunade nodded, satisfied. "Very good," she said when everyone had their headbands on. "You can have the rest of the day off to do whatever you want, but check in with your teachers before you leave." She turned and walked away out of the classroom.

"Wait! Tsunade!" Alex yelled.

Tsunade stopped and turned around, looking at Alex expectantly.

"Are those real?" Alex asked.

"Alex!" Joe and Christy yelled in unison, their eyes huge.

Tsunade was steaming. Anko, Ibiki and Iruka's eyes were huge. Tsunade walked over to the desk, grabbed the chair, and threw it as hard as possible at Alex, Greg and Jordan. it hit them hard and broke into a dozen pieces.

"Don't ever ask me that question again!" Tsunade yelled.

"I don't think they'll be showing up for training tomorrow," Ibiki said.

Joe shook her head. "No," she agreed. "They'll be too busy in the hospital."

* * *

A/N: He, he, he. Ello, everyone. Joyfull posting another chapter for everyone to read again. Hope you liked this chapter. Thank you, Skysoul for the idea for this last bit, the question Alex asks Tsunade part. I had fun writing this chapter, even if it was kind of long in some people's minds. If the teams didn't turn out the way you thought they would, you'll find out why I made them this way. I guess it's more of a selfish reason. Like I said, you'll find out soon. Actually, it won't really come into effect until the month break in the Chunin Exams, which doesn't happen for two months. Anyways, hope you liked this chapter and I hope you continue reading my story. Please R&R. 


	5. The First Day of Training

Chapter Five: First Day of Training

Joe, Dewie, Christy, Kyler, Timmy, Matthew, Andrew, Greg, Jordan and Alex all walked out of the building and looked around Konoha.

"Well, I'm going to take a walk, guys," Joe said. "See ya later. Come on, Dewie."

"See ya, Joe," Christy said as Joe walked off. Joe and Dewie walked down the road and soon came near a training ground.

Joe heard voices from the training grounds. "Shut up, Lee. Fate's already decided that I'm going to be better than you, and nothing's going to change that."

"Maybe, Hyuga Neji," a second voice said. "But I'm at least giving you some beatings to remember me by."

"Boys will be boys," a female voice said.

Joe and Dewie walked over until they saw four people on the training grounds. One was an adault in green spandex and a green vest with a Leaf Village headband tied around his waist and with super thick black eyebrows and a black Moe Howard hairdo. One was a thirteen-year-old spitting image of him, but he was standing on the field facing a boy with long black hair who was wearing a white T-shirt and black pants. Both had arms wrapped in bandages, but the boy in spandex had both of his arms and hands wrapped, while the other only had his right hand and leg. The boy with long black hair wore his headband around his forehead. And the last person was a girl wearing a red/pink T-shirt and pants with her Leaf headband around her forehead.

The adualt, a man named Maito Gai, turned his eyes and glanced at two shadows that blended in with the shadows cast by the trees. He raised an eyebrow. "It seems we have an audience," he said.

"What?" Rock Lee, the spitting image of Gai, asked, looking over.

Hyuga Neji, the other boy, turned his head and glared at the shadows. "Who's there?" he asked firmly.

"Come out," TenTen, the girl demanded.

Two shapes came out of the shadows. As they stepped into the sunlight, Gai recognized a girl wearing a black short-sleeved T-shirt, black shorts, a black backpack over her shoulders, and with long brown hair. She also wore a Leaf Village headband around her waist, a kunai and throwing stars bag around her right thigh and a bigger bag for larger weapons around her waist as well. It stuck out below the headband. The second figure was a black, golden and white dog with a Leaf Village headband wrapped around his neck.

"Who're you?" Gai asked.

"I'm Joe," the girl said. "One of the newest Leaf Village genins. Nine of us just became genins today."

"Nine?" TenTen exclaimed in disbelief.

Joe nodded. "Yeah, not including my dog Dewie."

"Well, I'm—" Lee began.

"Rock Lee," Joe said. "And fighting you is Hyuga Neji. This is TenTen. And that's your teacher, Maito Gai."

Gai nodded. "That's right. Who's your Jounin teacher?"

"Mitarashi Anko," Joe said.

"So Anko finally took on some students?" Gai asked, curious. "Interesting."

"I was just walking around and I came across your training grounds," Joe explained.

"How good are you in battle?" Neji asked.

"Depends on my opponent and my current attitude," Joe said, not intimidated at all by the ice in Neji's voice.

Gai raised an eyebrow as his curiousity about this girl rose._ She does seem intimidated at all by my students, who obviously outrank her,_ he thought._ Interesting. This new genin is different from the rest._

"All right, team," he said. "You can take the rest of the day off. I have some stuff I need to do." "Yes, Gai-sensei," TenTen said, nodding. Lee and Neji nodded in agreement.

Gai began walking away, his hands hanging down at his side. _It's time to find out some information on this new genin,_ he thought. _I'll start with Tsunade._

"You wanna train together?" TenTen asked. "Now that training's over, there's no need to finish the fight with Lee andNeji."

"Diddo," Neji said.

Joe shook her head. "No thanks. I need to train alone. But thanks anyway." She turned and walked further into the woods.

Lee watched Joe go, intrigued. Who was this girl? There was something different about her from most of the girls he knew, but he couldn't figure out what. But he wanted to know.

"Look, guys," Lee said. "I'm gone."

"See ya, Lee," TenTen said.

"Hm," Neji said.

Lee began walking away and once he was out of view, or at least non-Byakugan view, he turned and walked into the woods again, only taking a different route. He just walked in any direction, looking for Joe. Soon, he heard someone yell, "Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Lee walked further up ahead and stopped next to a tree when he saw a person standing up ahead in a clearing. He rested a hand against a tree and leaned against it as he watched. Joe stood in the clearing with Dewie lying on the ground a ways away. A pittiful clone of Joe lay on the ground next to her.

Joe ran a hand through her hand. "This is crap," she said. The clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Joe held her middle and forefingers in a cross position. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" she yelled.

Another pittiful clone of Joe appeared, lying on the ground. Lee shook his head. This was definetely not working for her.

Joe pulled four throwing stars out, one between each finger, leapt back and thrust them forward, aiming them straight for a tree. The stars hit the tree in a straight line, one next to another. Lee was stunned at the accuracy of her aim. Out of curiousity, he pulled out three throwing stars and through them hard, aiming them straight for Joe. Joe turned her eyes slightly and saw three throwing stars flying straight at her. she spun to the side and with one swift movement, through three kunais at the throwing stars. They hit the ground, the kunais bearing straight through the wholes of the throwing stars and into the ground.

"Oh my gosh," Lee said, his eyes wide as he ran over. He stopped by the throwing stars. "You just hit the dead center of those. How'd you do that?"

Joe shrugged. "Dunno," she said. "I guess I just have a way of seeing things in an instant that most people don't." Lee blushed. "You knew I was there."

"The whole time," Joe said. "So what's up? Thought that because my shadow clone was so weak that I would be easy to take down?" there was an impatience in her voice that was far from being covered up.

"No," Lee said. "I saw you throw those throwing stars and wondered how you'd react to some throwing stars being thrown at you out of nowhere when you didn't expect it."

"You wanna fight me," Joe said.

"More than you know," Lee said. "I wanna figure out your style."

"Any rules?" Joe asked, an eyebrow raised, flexing her fingers.

"None," Lee said. "Just that first one that says uncle loses."

"You got it," Joe said. "And if I win, you have to buy me some of those legweights like you've got."

"Deal," Lee said. "Let's do this."

"Dewie," Joe said to her dog, who had gotten to his paws. "You stay out this time. I'm gonna take him on by myself."

Dewie sat down and watched. Joe leapt at Lee, thrusting her right leg up at his head. Lee's hand shot up, catching Joe's leg. Joe thrust her left hand forward, which Lee caught in his other hand.

Joe smiled. "Idiot." She kicked up hard with her other foot, kicking Lee in the jaw. His head shot back and he went flying, letting go of Joe. Joe jumped backward and landed on her hand and knee. She pulled out three kunais and throwing stars and threw them forward at Lee. Lee did a backflip, dodging the weapons. He leapt at Joe, a kunai in his hand.

Joe pulled out a kunai and held it in front of her. The two kunais clashed and Joe and Lee pushed hard, staring each other in the eye. All of a sudden, Lee couldn't see Joe, and she and her kunai were gone. Lee fell forward onto his hands and knees, his eyes huge. He turned his head around just as a foot kicked him in the jaw, sending him flying. When he stood up, he felt something stab him in the neck, something very painful.

"Say the word," Joe said from behind Lee,her very long nails on his neck, digging in. "Otherwise I slit your neck. The better you get to know me, the better you'll realize I don't bluff."

"What—" Lee asked, his eyes huge. "How—" Lee felther nails dig into his neckand realized that Joe really wasn't bluffing. he felt a sharp pain in his neck. Damn! This girl had powerful nails! "Uncle," he said, and the nailswere released from his neck. Joepulled her nails away from his neckand letLee turnaround. "How did you do that?" he asked in shock. "How did you disappear that fast?"

Joe shrugged. "I don't know. I just started to move and I could move like the light. It looks like I've got that same ability as you."

Lee frowned. "Good job by the way."

Joe smiled for the first time since Lee had met her. "Thanks," she said. "Coming from you, I take that as a compliment."

"Why don't you train with us?" Lee asked.

"What?" Joe asked, frowning in confusion.

Lee shrugged. "Why don't you train with me and Gai? I'm sure he wouldn't mind training someone else, and I think you would be great as a taijutsu ninja, training almost completely in taijutsu. You and your dog, Dewie."

Dewie walked over and sat down beside Joe, looking up at her. Joe smiled down at Dewie and rubbed his head. She smiled at Lee. "I'd like that," she said. "If Gai says yes."

"You wanna move into my house?" Lee asked. "Not anything nasty or anything," he rushed to say, blushing. "Since you don't have a place to stay since you just got here."

"Do I have to wear green spandex?" Joe asked.

Dewie let out a whine of surprise, his eyes huge.

Lee laughed and shook his head. "No," he said.

Joe laughed. "Why not?"

"It'll be fine," Lee said.

Joe grinned. "Besides, you now owe me those legweights."

* * *

Joe stood with her back to the wall and her hands in her pockets. The night before she had gone out and bought bandages for her hands and now her arms and hands were completely wrapped in bandages. Lee had bought the legweights for her, and she had bought long black pants and orange leg warmers like Lee and Gai's to pull over them so that no one could see them. There was a hairtie about three inches up from the bottom of her hair. She stood with her hands in her pockets and with her eyes closed. 

The night before, Joe and Lee had gone shopping with Gai, who just so conveinently had needed to go out to buy groceries. Apparently he had been out of groceries for about two weeks and had been eating mainly ramen at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop for the past two weeks. Gai had agreed to train Joe, and Lee had made arrangements for Joe to stay at his house. So now Joe was staying in one of the spare rooms at Lee's house and training under Gai.

Last night, Joe had spent twelve hours outside, just getting use to the weight of the legweights. **_THEY WERE HEAVY!_** When you drop those things they caused an explosion. She could walk fine now, but there was no way she would be able to run very fast past a jog for several weeks. She had somehow learned how to do backflips, but that had more to do with the weight coming down than up.

Timmy and Kyler were playing cards at one of the desks. Poker to be exact, and the two idiots were actually betting money. The pathetic thing was, neither of them were making any profit by betting five bucks at a time.

Joe opened her eyes momentarily, and then closed her eyes again. _Clueless. Could I have been stuck on a team with any more of idiots?_

"Seems like spandex boy is rubbing off on you a little too quickly there, Joe," Timmy said as he shuffled the cards.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Joe asked, opening her eyes.

Timmy stopped. "Kyler, help me with this."

Kyler turned around and looked at Joe. "To put it bluntly," he said, "And in a language thou will understand: you look like a freikin' female version of lee in black with long brown hair."

* * *

A/N: no, he does not say 'thou' in real.

* * *

"You hung out with the guy all day yesterday, and now you're dressing like him only in black," Timmy said. 

Joe groaned in annoyance and walked over. She sat at the desk behind them. "Turn around, zip the lip and deal me in," she said in an icey voice.

Timmy and Kyler turned around and Timmy dealt the cards. "I'm just saying, if I didn't know any better, I'd think the guy has a thing for you."

"Would you quit calling him 'guy'?" Joe asked as she picked up her seven cards and looked at them. "Or just not so often. I keep getting 'em mixed up when people call them that. I'll trade in two cards," she said, putting two of her cards on the table.

Timmy gave her two new cards. "You didn't deny it," he said, and traded three of his own cards in.

"Give me five," Kyler said, handing Timmy five of his cards.

Joe shook her head. "This coming from the person who was taken in by the Harunos. 20 dollars," she said, putting her money forward. She had gotten a loan from Tsunade to start her out with. She knew this probably wasn't the best way to use it, but she was and had a point to make.

Timmy blushed from Joe's comment. "Shut up" He frowned. "You know that this isn't American money, right?"

"I know," Joe said. "I'm just calling it that because it's easier than calling it by their names for it."

"You play a hard game," Kyler said. "I'll meet you though." He put the same amount of money down.

"I raise you fifteen," Timmy said, placing his money down. "Readit and weep. Three of a kind." He placed three queens down.

"I've got a full house," Kyler said, placing his cards down. Two jacks, three tens.

"Wow, guys," Joe said, looking at her teammates. "You're good." The boys grinned. "But," Joe said. "I'm better." She laid the cards down. "A royal flush." "Ahh!"

Kyler and Timmy both groaned. "Dang!"

"I just won fifty-five extra bucks," Joe said, smiling, picking the money up.

"All right, you gamblers," Anko said as she walked into the classroom. "It's time to head out to the training grounds."

"Let's go," Joe said, getting to her feet and putting the money in her pocket. "I'm itchin' to train."

Anko raised an eyebrow as she looked at Joe.

"What?" Joe asked.

"Nothing," Anko said, grinning. "For a moment there you just reminded me of Gai and Lee, only wearing black instead of green."

"Told you," Timmy and Kyler said in unison.

Joe suddenly spun around toward Timmy and Kyler, her right hand outstretched at them. Kunais whizzed right by their necks, missing their necks by a mere few millimeters. Joe smiled. Her smile both scared and surprised Kyler and Timmy. It was a smile of anger, annoyance and smugness. (A/N: is that even a word?)

"Piss me off even more, and I won't miss," she said. "Let's go." She turned and followed Anko out of the room.

"Damn, she's witchy this morning," Timmy said. "I guess the more she's in the mood to train, the more witchier she becomes."

"Hear ya there," Kyler said in agreement.

Ten minutes later, the kids were sitting on some stairs at their designated training grounds and Anko stood, leaning against a rail in front of them. "All right," Anko said. "Let's begin. You each know what chakra is, so I don't have to go over that. And you all know how to transform fairly well. Now, do you know what kind of training you plan to specialize in, or do you plan to learn all kinds of jutsu?"

Joe frowned. Her hands were folded right in front of her mouth and her the bottom of her elbows were rested on her knees. "I plan on becoming a taijutsu ninja," she said. "Maybe learning some ninjutsu and water genjutsu."

"I want to learn all kinds," Kyler said.

"Same here," Timmy said.

Anko nodded. "Okay. First thing we'll begin today with is the use of special abilities. I know that you each have a special ability, and each of you know it. I want to see it. Now stand up." Joe, Timmy and Kyler all stood up. "Kyler," Anko said. "Show me yours first."

Kyler raised an eyebrow. At first he looked at Joe, then shook his head and walked over to Timmy. He grabbed Timmy by the throat, and with one easy movement, picked him up and threw him hard, throwing him over a hundred feet as if he were a pebble.

"Strength," Anko said. "I'm impressed."

Timmy stood up and walked over. "Thanks, Kyler," he said sarcasticlly. "I think my lungs were almost cut off and I'll be sore for the next two decades."

"Okay, Timmy," Anko said. "Show me yours."

Timmy smiled. "Mastery over fire. I completed it all last night." He did several hand seals and fire shot from out of nowhere, forming a diamond shape in the air, then a circle, and then spelling out his name. Then when he made fists with his hands, fireballs shot from his fists, then dispersed in air when Timmy commanded them to stop.

Anko was impressed. "Very nice," she said. "Joe?"

Joe frowned. "I prefer not to show you," she said. "To show you I'd have to cause an explosion. But I'll tell you right now it's light-fast speed."

"All right," Anko said. "Now I want to see you fight against one another. Joe and Timmy first. Try it without Dewie, Joe."

Joe nodded and Dewie laid down from his standing position. Joe and Timmy stepped onto the field and faced each other, giving themselves about five feet of space between them. Anko and Kyler stood to the side, watching them while they sat on a bench.

"This'll be good," Kyler said with a smirk.

Anko grinned. "I know. That's why I chose them to fight first. Five says she'll win easily."

Kyler grinned at Anko. "You're betting against me?" he asked. "You, a teacher?"

"You bet," Anko said.

Kyler nodded. "All right. I'll raise ya. Ten says he'll leave her panting before she knocks him out."

"Deal," Anko said, shaking Kyler's hand before turning back to the fight.

Timmy outstretched his arms, making snapping actions with his hands. Balls of fire shot out from behind him and shot at Joe. Joe did backflips, dodging the fireballs. She scowled. She leapt at Timmy, doing flips as he threw fire at her, dodging the attacks. Timmy's eyes widened when Joe stopped less than five inches away from him, their faces right in front of each other.

"Fool," Joe said. She thrust her left leg straight up, kicking Timmy in the jaw and sending him flying straight up. Joe leapt up, jumping up right behind Timmy. She grabbed him in a choke hold.

"Prepare to go down, thick brows," she spat.

A moment later she spun him over onto his back and let go of him. With one movement she hit him hard in the back with the lower half of her arm, throwing him straight down toward the ground. Timmy hit the ground hard, causing an explosion. Smoke covered the field. When it cleared away, Anko and Kyler were left coughing from the smoke.

"What happened?" Anko asked in surprise, standing up.

When the smoke had completely cleared away, Joe was visible, standing over Timmy's body. Anko noticed she was panting slightly. "Stupid," Joe said. "He got too cocky. He's a one-trick pony who thought he could win just by playing with fire."

"What'd you do to sion without denting the ground at all?" Anko asked.

"Oh that?" Joe asked. "I threw a smoke bomb down at the ground at last minute right before I hit Timmy for dramatic effect. Just to freak you guys out of course."

Anko groaned. "Kids," she muttered. "Will never understand them, and I'm not sure Iwant to . Okay," she said out loud. "Kyler, you win." She handed him the money. "She was panting slightly after defeating him."

Joe raised an eyebrow. "You bet on the battle?"

Kyler shrugged, grinning. "Learned from my teammate."

Joe narrowed her eyes. "Don't go there, weasel. You may be on my team but I don't think of either of you as my teammates." She walked away, swinging her arms back and forth as she rolled her neck. She leaned on her hands against the rail, her back to Kyler, Timmy, and Anko. Dewie walked over and sat down at her side.

Anko watched Joe, an eyebrow raised. "What's with her?" she asked Kyler and Timmy as Timmy walked over, rubbing his shoulder.

Kyler looked at Timmy. Timmy frowned. "Joe and I haven't exactly gotten along that well in several years."

"Last year in particular," Kyler added. "What about last year?" Timmy asked, confused. "When she left," Kyler said. "After that just about everyone turned on her."

"Oh yeah," Timmy said.

"Hello?" Anko asked. "What are you talking about?"

Kyler frowned, looking at Anko. "Well, last year, Joe left our school for three months almost half-way into the school year, and then came back. Not many people afterward would accept her back."

Anko frowned. "Hmm," she said. _Why do I have a feeling that's not got anything to do with why she's acting aloof?_ "Okay, Team 5," she said. "Take a lap. Run down to Tsunade's office and back."

"What!" they exclaimed.

"You heard me," Anko said. "Something you've got to learn is endurance, and there's no better time, so go."

"Let's go, losers," Joe said, turning around and beginning to jog with Dewie at her side.

Timmy and Kyler moaned and began running also, dragging behind.


	6. Gaara's Hell Part 1

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews

Disclaimer: I d not own Naruto

Chapter Eight: Gaara's Hell, Kankuro's Heaven and Temari's Student Part 1

Gaara led the way back into Sunagakure, Temari on one side of him and Kankuro on the other. They walked into a building and up to Gaara's office, where Gaara was to check in with his one of the Suna Jounins, Kaya. Garra opened the door to his office and saw the female Jounin standing by his desk, waiting patiently with her hands behind her back.

"Welcome back, Kazekage," Kaya said.

"Give me the information, Kaya," Gaara said. "We've got three new Genin, sir," Kaya said. "Three girls from an unknown country.""Jessie, Krystal and Clarissa?" Kankuro asked. Kaya nodded. "They said that they met you three on their way into Suna. They've been put under the authority of the only available Jounin, Saze Somah."

Gaara nodded. "Appropriate choice," he said, thinking of Jessie.

"However," Kaya said. "Somah took on a mission two weeks ago, the day you left. It was only moments after you departed and almost an hour before the three new Genin came. She left the building to begin the mission only a few minutes before the new Genin came to your office."

"What was the mission?" Temari asked.

"To go to Amergakure for eight weeks and act as a bodyguard to the leader there," Kaya said.

Gaara frowned, thinking hard. "We can't have three new Genin sitting around doing nothing for two months," he said. "If no Jounin is available, then three Chunin will be assigned to them, one Chunin per Genin."

Kaya nodded. "My thoughts exactly. For the past two weeks they have been training with one of the Chunin at the academy. Two of them seem to be picking up really fast, but the third seems to only have partial interest. I spoke with the Chunin they've been training with and we've both figured out who they will train under." She hesitated when she saw the spark of annoyance in Gaara's eyes. "If the choices meet your approval, of course."

"Tell me," Gaara said. Kaya relaxed slightly. "We checked into it and there don't not tied up with something. Several are off on missions and booked up with missions for the next several weeks. All the others are teaching at the academy. So we figured that they should be put under the care of three very experienced Genin. Krystal is the half-hearted Genin. We figured Kankuro might be able to grab her attention and get her interested in training."

Kankuro grinned. "I'd be happy to try," he said.

"Clarissa," Kaya went on. "Also known as Chris, said that she looked up to Temari and liked the way she trained." Temari grinned. Kaya continued. "We decided that she would be best trained under Temari, someone who wasn't a slacker but at the same time, wouldn't kill her student while teaching her."

Temari frowned. "I'm not sure how much I like the idea of training someone."

"Deal with it, Temari," Gaara said. "I approve the decision, and it'll only be a month and a half."

"And Jessie trains under Gaara," Kaya said.

Gaara's eyes widened as he snapped his head to the side, staring at Kaya wide-eyed. Kankuro and Temari both grinned trying hard not to laugh their heads off.

"WHAT!" Gaara exclaimed, his eyes huge.

"I completely approve the decision," Temari said, grinning. "Personalities and dispositions totally fit."

"They fit you too, blondy," Gaara snapped at his older sister. "And as I recall, she kicked your butt last time, literally." Temari frowned and shut up.

Kaya smiled. "Kazekage, you are the most advanced ninja in all of Suna. She has the biggest attitude in all of Suna. The Chunin training with her right now is ready to commit suicide after two weeks of training with her alone, seriously. She flat out told me that after one meeting, she and Temari hate each other's guts with every fiber in their bodies."

"She's got that right," Temari muttered, her hands on her hips. "And she told us that she'd sooner train under Gai and Lee in hell than train under Kankuro," Kaya said. Kankuro shrugged carelessly before Kaya continued. "She said something about hating Batman and Catwoman with all of her heart, whatever that means. You see, Gaara, you're the only one who's strong enough strength-wise and in will to put up with her."

Gaara stared ar Kaya for several moments in silence, deciding how to kill her. "Leave," he said. "All of you." "Yes, Gaara," Temari said. She turned around and shoved Kankuro out of the room. "Come on, little brother. Out!"

"But—" Kankuro began.

"OUT!" Temari yelled, shoving Kankuro in the shoulder, out of the room. "We'll see you tonight, Gaara!" she called back. Gaara could hear her mutter, "After I kick Kankuro's ass and throw his carkus (?) off a five hundred-foot cliff."

"Hey!" Kankuro exclaimed. Kaya walked out of the room behind Gaara's siblings, closing the door behind her.

Gaara turned around, his eyes as cold as ever. "Why me?" he muttered. He walked over to his desk and sat down, setting his hand on his head. Eight hours later, at midnight, Gaara was still going through a large stack of papers. He sighed and stopped. He set his elbow on the desk and set his head on it. All night he had tried avoiding the fact that he was to teach the new girl Jessie. But every ten minutes or so his mind would go back to it. Gaara pulled his head up so that his eyes were visible between his fingers. "This," he muttered. "Is going to be a living _hell._"

* * *

Gaara walked down to the designated training grounds where he had told Jessie to meet him in a message he had sent her the night before. He recognized Jessie pacing around the training grounds, her hands shoved in her pockets. Gaara saw that she had changed outfits from the first time he had seen her. She was now wearing a black jean jacket, black shorts that came down to her knees, black T-shirt and her hands were wrapped in bandages. Around the bottom half of her face, covering her nose, mouth and neck, was a black mask that reminded Gaara of the Jounin Hatake Kakashi.

Jessie turned her head and saw Gaara. "You're here," she said, her voice empty.

Gaara nodded. "Yes," he said. "First of all, let me get something out in the open. I'm not happy about being here. To tell you the truth, I don't see you ever becoming a ninja, and I think this is a waist of my time. Unfortunately for me, you've somehow made yourself the enemy of just about everyone in suna, including Kankuro and Temari."

"My, aren't we chatty?" Jessie said. She began circling Gaara, her eyes never leaving him. "The mighty Kazekage Gaara of the Sand is taking time out of his busy schedule to train me. Well, Gaara," she said in a much drier voice. "To tell you the truth, I don't give a _flyin' shit_ about how you feel about training me. But I do know is that I need a teacher to teach me jutsus and how to make it as a ninja. And while we're on this track, let me also tell you something. Your reputation doesn't scare me. Seeing you kill a guy using your precious sand. I know that your mother was killed at your birth to save your life, and that the one-tailed demon racoon is sealed away within your body. I also know that you look like a friekin' angry panda. But you know what? I. Don't. Care. None of that stuff about you scares me. I think your sand abilties are awesome, but they don't scare me."

Gaara stared at Jessie for several several moments in silence. Finally, he spoke, breaking the silence. "First of all, I don't want to hear you ever say I look like an angry panda again." Jessie smiled. Gaara continued. "And secondly, for future refference, I don't do ninjutsu. You're going to have to wait a month for Somah to return. She'll be your Jounin teacher. Until then, you'll have to settle for taijutsu and genjutsu for the next month and a half."

Jessie shrugged. "Works for me." She held her left hand up. "I think I'm going to help WindCountry live up to its name." Wind suddenly began spiraling around her and then she disappeared in the wind as it dispersed.

Gaara suddenly heard a voice behind him. "Another winded spirit will definetely help WindCountry, and wind powers will definetely help me."

Gaara narrowed his eyes as he looked back at Jessie. She smirked at him. "Hmm," he said. This would be interesting.


	7. The Incompatible Team

Chapter Eight: The Incompatible Team

"Give that back!" "No way!"

"It's mine!"

"No it's not!"

"Would you two shut up?"

"You shut up!"

"Yeah! You shut up!"

"No way!"

"How did I get stuck with this team?"

"Shut up!" Iruka yelled, his hands clamped over his ears.

The three kids turned their heads and looked at Iruka. "What?" they said in unison, confused at why their teacher was yelling at them.

Iruka stared at his three students. "You three argue more than any team I've met yet, even more than Team 7."

"Really?" Andrew and Christy asked in unison in surprise.

Iruka sighed. "All right. Christy, is that your pack of weapons?"

"Yes," Christy said, ripping the bag out of Andrew's hands. "But _Andrew_ here's convinced it isn't."

"Well, where's mine then?" Andrew asked. "They look exactly the same." "Did you perhaps forget it?" Christy asked. "No," Andrew snapped. "I had it and set it down on the table in the desk when we came in here. That was the same time that Team 8 left the room."

Iruka nodded. "I think I know what happened to it. Stay here and I'll come back." He turned and walked out of the room.

Andrew and Matt, who were sitting in the row behind Christy, looked down at her, confused. She had turned to face them, looking just as confused.

"What was that about?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, why'd he yell at us?" Andrew asked.

Christy shrugged as she wrapped the belt of the weapons bag around her waist, putting the bag behind her. "I don't know," she said.

"Why'd we get Iruka as our teacher anyway?" Andrew asked.

"Maybe Tsuboodie thought we would be an easy team for him to handle," Matt said.

Christy closed her eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath to keep herself calm. She opened her eyes. "Matt, it's _Tsu-na-de_," she said slowly, making each section of the word obvious. "It's not that hard to figure it out."

"Don't make it sound like he's stupid," Andrew said.

"Well, if he can't get a name that simple down, what else am I supposed to think?" Christy snapped.

"It takes one to know one," Andrew said.

"Think about those words, Andrew," Christy said.

"Shut up," Andrew said, shoving Christy in the shoulder.

"You shut up," Christy said.

"Hey!" Matt yelled. "Enough, all right?"

Christy and Andrew frowned, stopping.

Matt frowned. "Sorry I couldn't get Tsubaba's name right."

Christy looked at Andrew, her hands on her hips. Andrew closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked at Matt.

"Matt," he said impatiently. "It's _Tsu-na-de_. Not Tsuchi, Tsuloco, Tsucaca, Tsucocoa, Suzuki, Tsuboobie, Tsuboodie, or Tsubaba. It's _Tsu-na-de_. Tsunade."

"Thank you," Christy said.

Matt looked confused. He shook his head. "Anyway," he said. "I wonder what we're going to do today for training?"

"I can answer that question right now," Iruka said, walking into the room. He had an exact duplicate of Christy's weapon bag in his hand. He threw it Andrew. "Don't set it down anywhere when Akamaru is in the room. He snatched it before leaving."

"Right," Andrew said, pulling the belt around his waist.

"All right," Iruka said. "Today I'm going to give you guys a misson."

"Already?" Andrew asked. "That was quick."

Christy was sitting with her arms crossed, looking at Iruka suspiciously with her eyes narrowed. "Hmm," she said.

Iruka noticed this and was slightly surprised. Was she onto him and his plan? Iruka nodded. "It'll be the mission that decides whether or not you can continue as ninjas or not."

"What?" Matt exclaimed.

"I don't believe this," Andrew said.

"Hmm," Christy said, still staring narrowed-eyed at Iruka.

Iruka nodded. "Follow me," he said. He walked out of the classroom and the three students followed. They walked outside and over to their designated training grounds. Iruka stood in the middle of the training grounds.

"All right," he said. "I've given you all a week of freetime to spend with your friends, run around and play, and get to know Konoha. Now it's time for actual training." He cleared his throat. "There are two specifically marked flags hidden in that forest," he said, pointing to the forest nearby. "Your mission is to find them and find them and then come back with proof within an hour."

"But there are three of us," Matt said.

"Exactly," Iruka said, smirking. "The one who doesn't find a flag gets sent back to the academy to start his or her training over from the very basics. Then again, you all might have to be sent back."

"Hmm," Christy said.

"Okay, what does 'hmm' mean?" Andrew snapped. "You've said it three now, every time when Iruka talks about this mission."

"Why does it matter?" Christy asked. "It's not like I care whether or not you go back to the academy."

"Watch your mouth there, pal," Matt said.

Andrew was fuming. "That goes double for me. For all I care, Iruka can send your sorry carkus back to the academy for life."

Christy snorted. "You really are an idiot, aren't you?"

"Quit snorting," Andrew said. "It makes you sound like a pig."

"No," Christy said, shaking her head. "That's Joe."

"What?" Andrew and Matt asked in unison and confusion.

Christy shook her head. "Never mind."

"All right," Iruka said. "Both flags are in the forest, you have to stay inside it. Ready," he said, and the three kids got ready to go. "Set. Go!" The three kids disappeared.

Andrew ran through the woods, running as fast as possible. He narrowed his eyes as he ran. _I'm going to find both of those flags,_ he thought. _And then give one to Matt and keep the other for myself. Then I'm going to send Christy back to the academy._

Matt leapt from tree branch to tree branch, looking for the flags. He sighed, thinking about his teammates. _Those two are totally incompaitble. Solo, I could get along with either of them okay, better Andrew than christy, although Christy's pretty easy going as long as you don't annoy her. But when we're all together, all we do is fight. How can we really be a team if that's all we do?_

Christy smiled as she ran through the forest. _Iruka's clever._ _If my theory about where Iruka's hidden the flags is correct, then there's no way Genin like Andrew and Matt would see them. They're too literal, kind of like Joe. But that's beside the point. Joe isn't here and I think even she'd figure this out._

Christy stopped once she came to a clearing. She saw Iruka standing in the clearing, smirking with his arms folded. "This is the only clearing in the forest," he said. "You must be planning on transforming and going into the sky."

Christy smirked. "You've become a mind reader, Iruka. Clever idea, by the way, hiding the flags where you have. X is the mark right? X marks the spot right?"

Iruka chuckled. "Right. Wait until you find the flags and bring back proof before you brag though."

"I'm not bragging," Christy said. "I'm complimenting." She held her hands in a hand seal. All of a sudden, she transformed into a sparrow. She flapped her wings and flew up high above the trees. She looked down and smirked. _Just as I thought,_ she thought.

She transformed back and then reached into her back pocket and pulled out a camera. She took a quick picture before she began too fall. She put the camera away quickly before transforming back, flying down to the ground. She transformed back into a human and pulled her camera out. She chuckled. "Clever one, Iruka. Very clever."

Matt ran and smiled when he saw a red flag with a triangle on it. "Bingo," he said. "The marked flag." He leapt up and grabbed the flag out of the tree. He then turned around and began running back.

Andrew was running back toward the designated training grounds, two flags in his hands. One was green and one was yellow, both with the Leaf Village symbol on it. _These are the flags,_ Andrew thought smugly. _Adios, Christy. It looks like you weren't smart enough to beat me after all._

Andrew skid to stop when he reached the designated training grounds. He was surprised to see Matt holding a red fleg. "Matt?" he asked in surprise. "What are you doing with that flag?"

Matt looked over at Andrew, as did Christy and Iruka, who were also standing there. "This is one of the marked flags," Matt said, holding up his flag. Sure enough, it was marked with a triangle.

Andrew held his flags up. "But mine are marked too."

"Who got the right flag?" Matt asked, looking at Iruka.

Iruka was smiling, as was Christy. "Neither of you got the correct flag," Iruka said.

"What!" they exclaimed. Iruka nodded. "Christy's the one who found both flags."

"But she doesn't have any flags," Andrew said. "And these three are all marked."

"Uh, uh," Iruka said, shaking his head. "She got a picture of both of the two correct flags using her camera." Christy held up a digital camera in her right hand. Iruka continued. "I said that you had to come back with _proof_ of finding the flags, not the flags themselves. Another mistake you made was about the marking of the flags." He shook his head. "I said there were two specifically marked flags that I wanted you to find and get proof of your finding, and then bring back the proof." He shook his head again. "I never said _how_ they were marked. You two found the first flag that was marked. I said 'specifically marked'. You didn't pay attention. Andrew was out to keep Christy from getting the flags so that he could send her back to the academy." Andrew narrowed his eyes at Christy, who was frowning. "And Matt just wanted to be able to pass." Matt nodded. Iruka frowned. "But Christy here actually thought about what I said, and found the meaning behind the meaning, so to speak."

"So do we fail?" Andrew asked.

Iruka looked at Andrew. "I told you all that you would be sent back to the academy for basic training. I think you'd all be better off if I trained you all together."

"What!" Andrew, Matt and Christy yelled.

Iruka nodded. "Yes. You three need to work as a team. You need to work as a trio, not just individually. I believe that if you were to learn real teamwork, you three could make an amazing, unbeatable team." The kids smiled. Iruka shook his head. "All the academy would do is treat you individualy. Wake up, Team 6, it's time to learn teamwork."

The three teammates looked at one another.

"It's worth a shot," Christy said.

"Let's do it," Andrew said, nodding.

"Fine," Matt said, shrugging carelessly.

* * *

A/N: Thank you Mr. Mansell and Kakashi-sensei for your help giving me the idea for this chapter. And for everyone's information, Christy and Andrew don't hate each other quite as much as I make it out to be in this story. Their relationship becomes less hostile as the story gets further on, and they actually start acting like real teammates. Matt meanwhile is acting like a teammate to both of them. Next chapter will be Gaara's Hell, Kankuro's Heaven and Temari's Student Part 2, the part about Kankur. :grins: It leaves a large opening for a pairing. LOL. Please stay posted 


	8. Kankuro's Heven Part 2

A/N: This is definetely one of the shorter chapters.

**Hawkhanyou: if you read this chapter, I want to let you know that in this chapter one of the people does answer your question about missing her family and her old life.**

Chapter Nine: Gaara's Hell, Kankuro's Heaven and Temari's Student Part 2

Kankuro walked down the street toward the designated training grounds where Krystal was supposed to meet him. He smiled as the thought about the spirited girl. She had seem spirited the day he and his siblings had first stumbled upon her and the other two girls. By now, Temari was probably waving her stupid fan around, showing Chris how to use elements to her advantage, and Gaara was probably half-way into killing Jessie. He rolled his eyes. Good ridance.

Kankuro smiled again as he thought of Krystal. She was a pretty girl that didn't seem to willing to back down, even to Jessie. He had liked her from the time he had first seen her, explaining his reasons for not minding training her. Generally, Kankuro could come up with a hundred things he'd preffer to do over training a Genin, seeing as he was a Genin himself. He knew that Temari felt the same way. But neither would disobey Gaara's wishes, just because they knew that Gaara wouldn't feel any remorse by killing both of them, even if they were siblings. Temari, even though she was the oldest, was strong-willed in her ways, and preferred not acting like a chicken in front of Gaara, but she was quicker to back down than Kankuro. Kankuro wanted more than anything for Gaara to stop threatening to kill them every time they made a move he disapproved of, and to start acting like a normal person.

Kankuro snorted. Gaara had never been a normal person, not even the day he was born. Which was why he was the way he was. Kankuro had only been two when Gaara was born, and Temari had only been three, so neither had really remembered much about their brother when they were younger. They only really remembered seeing him used and disgraced by the Villagers, which didn't make either of them happy. They had used him to try and contain the one-tailed demon's power. Temari and Kankuro had both felt sympathy for their brother as they watched him grow up. But their sympathy had started to discintigrate when Gaara gained an attitude worthy of a mule. He told them that he had never thought of either of them as his siblings, and that all he wanted was to anhiolate (?) every being on the planet. Gaara was the most stubborn person on the planet, and one of the most dangerous. He used his sand abilties to intimidate people, and used his demon side to scare the crap out of other people. Growing up in fear of his younger brother and the demon within him, Kankuro had grown a deep hatred for kids. Temari preffered to stay out of Gaara's way, which was hard when he was her teammate. And now it was even harder when they were orphans and when Gaara was the Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure and Wind Country.

Kankuro, however, might have his own hatred for kids, but he was also a ladies' man. He saw a lot of women he was attracted to every day in Suna. He had no interest for any woman outside of Suna because he knew that he would be getting his hopes up for something that could never be. While many of the Konoha kunoichis were very attractive, Kankuro blinded himself to all attraction to them because he knew that marriage between ninjas from separate countries was forbidden. No ninja could live in another country unless they were on a mission. Unfortunately, most girls didn't like him because of the way he dressed, how he painted his face, how he had a tendency to bully little kids, and that he spent almost all of his time with his puppets.

Kankuro reached the designated training area and saw Krystal sitting on one of the benches of a picnic table, her chin on her hands. Her elbows were bent and on the table. He saw that she was wearing a red sweatshirt and jeans and wore her red Hitai-ate headband around her forehead.

"Hey," Kankuro said, walking over and standing on the opposite side of the table on the second bench. "Remember me?"

Krystal looked up. "Yeah," she said. "You're one of the ninjas who found Chris, Jessie and me."

"I'm Kankuro," Kankuro said. "And you're Krystal. I'm your teacher for the next month and a half until your real teacher returns from her current mission."

Krystal frowned. "Thanks," she said half-heartidly.

Kankuro frowned, understanding what Kaya was talking about now. "Is something wrong?" he asked, sitting down on the bench across from Krystal.

Krystal frowned. "I don't know," she said. "My friends and I were on a trip when we were… seperated. I kind of miss my family and my friends that I left behind. i didn't have a choice about coming or not, I was just brought here.I was suddenly thrown into a country where there are ninjas who are willing to kill each other on the command of their teacher and leader.They learn to turn their hearts to ice and kill someone in cold blood. When I first heard the idea of becoming a ninja, I was kind of excited. Then, about three days after we got here, I saw a ninja being dragged into the Village. He was completely covered in blood and had obviously been slaughtered. I felt my stomach turn over about a hundred times and I had to hold my mouth to keep from throwing up. It was then that I realize what I would be trained to do. There was still some excitement for me in the idea of becoming a ninja, but there was also the worry that maybe I won't be as good of a ninja as I want to be… and I must sound like a complete idiot and whiner," she said, looking down at the table and taking her hands out from under her chin, resting them on the table.

Kankuro shook his head. "No," he said. "Not entirely. I understand how you feel, kind of. I felt the same way when I saw my first dead body."

"Really?" Krystal asked, looking up at Kankuro. Kankuro nooded. "I was two, and although I don't remember much from them, that's the one thing I do remember. It wasn't a ninja killing, but my mother being killed to save my younger brother's life."

"I'm sorry," Krystal said.

Kankuro nodded. "Yeah well, my father was the Kazekage of Sunagakure, the leader of our Village. Growing up with him as my father meant that there were high expectations for me and my siblings. We were trained at a young age to kill. My first killing was at the age of six. I had to learn to turn my heart to ice and kill very young, and I remember seeing the body. Like you said, it was covered in blood and I had slaughtered the man. I felt sick, but I kept it in and concentrated on defending my Village, no matter who I had to kill."

"Isn't Gaara the Kazekage though?" Krystal asked.

Kankuro nodded. "But he's only been Kazekage for about two months. My father was killed a couple of months ago. I'm not entirely sorry, but Gaara seems to be doing a good job of ruling Suna. Look, I can't teach you a whole lot, but I can teach you some really cool jutsus, if you're willing to learn what I have to teach. I can train you to be very strong and to be a great ninja, even after Somah comes back and takes over your training again."

Krystal smiled. "Thanks, Kankuro. I'd like that."

Kankuro smiled back. "No problem. Let's begin."


	9. Helpful Hints

A/N: This is one of the more pointless chapters. But it's four pages, and was fun writing. :grins: Hope you like it, Skysoul.

* * *

Chapter Ten: Helpful Hints

Christy and Shikamaru were walking down the Konoha streets, talking, when they heard a strange sound. They turned their heads and Christy laughed when she saw Joe rolling down the street on black roller blades that had red wheels. She had headphones over her ears and a cord led from the headphones into her weapons bag. She was bobbing her head slightly as she skated down the street.

"Hey, Joe!" Christy called out.

Joe skated right past Christy and Shikamaru and then spun around, stopping as she turned. She smiled and pulled her headphones off and let them rest around her neck. "Hey, guys," she said. "What's up?"

"You brought your roller blades with you on the trip?" Christy asked in disblief.

Joe shook her head. "No. Amergakure sells them in some of their stoors." She lifted one of her feet and hit the front whel on the ground before setting her foot down again. "I bought me a pair while my team and I were on a mission."

"I've never seen roller blades," Shikamaru said.

Joe smiled. "I've noticed that most of the people here haven't seen them before. I've gotten quite a few weird looks and stares." She laughed. "Here come Timmy and Kyler."

Christy and Shikamaru turned around and sure enough, Timmy and Kyler was skating over on roller blades also. Kyler was wearing orange roller blades and Timmy was wearing red. They rolled over behind Joe and stopped, one on either side of her.

"Hey," Timmy said, out of breath. "There you are."

Joe grinned. "You guys finally found me, huh?"

"Don't go running off like that," Kyler panted. "Anko freaked out when we started to go after you and left her."

Joe laughed again. She looked at Christy and Shikamaru, who were facing them now and looking confused. "Anko's never roller bladed before, never even seen roller blades actually. But while we were in Amergakure and when we bought these roller blades, she figured she'd buy a pair also."

"You mean Anko's roller blading?" Shikamaru asked in surprise.

Team 5 frowned and looked at each other, obviously not quite sure how to answer his question.

"I'm not sure you could call it roller blading," Timmy said. "More like she tries to get to her feet and falls flat on her face."

"Really?" Christy asked.

Kyler nodded. "We just got back from our mission in Amergakure. Well, the biggest mistake of our lives was deciding to roller blade the last five miles of the trip. Timmy and I were holding Anko by the hands and pulling her back as Joe carried our backpacks. Joe got the better end of it. We'd begin pulling Anko down the road, when she'd freak out and fall down, pulling us down with her." He scowled. "Let's just say both of us are very sore right now."

"Then when we got to our training grounds, Joe dumped off all of the backpacks and skated off really fast," Timmy said. "We stood up and began skating away after her. Anko, whose legs are all bloody by now from falling, screamed at us and we had to come back, get her, and then endure the twenty minutes of falling it took to get her to Tsunade's office. We didn't even stay to see Tsunade. We dumped Anko outside the office, took her roller blades from her, and then took off."

"Where are her roller blades?" Joe asked.

"Back at the training grounds," Kyler said. "We took a trip back before coming after you."

Joe looked at Shikamaru and Christy. "You guys just come back from a mission?"

Shikamaru nodded. "My team and I went on a mission to Otogakure to deliver some documents to some guy who lived there. We get three days off to do whatever before we head out again."

Christy frowned. "Team 6 is leaving for Suna tomorrow. We get to do whatever today and then we leave tomorrow."

"If you see her, say hi to Jess for me," Joe said. "Chances are she landed in Suna." She smirked. "Either that or Rock Village." (1)

"Wait," Shikamaru said, confused. "Who's Jess?"

Christy and Joe grinned at each other, and then turned their head. "Oh, boys," they said in unison.

Kyler and Timmy both had twisted expressions on their face. "What?" they muttered in unison.

"Explain Jessie for Shikamaru," the girls said in unison.

Kyler and Timmy looked at Shikamaru. "The devil's twin, older sister," they said in unison.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "She's that bad?"

"Oh yeah," the four kids said in unison. Joe smiled. "Got the largest cussing vocabulary I've ever heard of." "Not afraid of anybody," Christy said.

"Beats people up for the fun of it," Kyler said with an even deeper scowl.

"And belligerent(2) beyond belief," Timmy said.

"Well, that sounds an aweful lot like a redhead I know," Shikamaru said.

"She is a redhead," the four kids said in unison.

"Well, we've got to go," Joe said, smirking as she began to roll backward. She grabbed Timmy and Kyler by the arm. "Come on, you two," she said in a firm voice, despite her grinning at Christy. "Let's go. We've interrupted these two long enough." She let go of their arms and pulled her headphones over her ears. She reached into her weapons bag for a moment before pulling her hand back out.

"What?" Kyler asked in surprise.

Timmy laughed and turned around. "Got ya," he said, pulling the headphones to his I-Pod up over his ears. Kyler did the same.

"What are you guys talking about?" Kyler asked.

Joe hit Kyler over the back of the head. "Let me explain this to you, _away_ from Christy and Shikamaru," she said, grabbing Kyler by the back of the neck and dragged him as she skated away, Timmy following behind. Joe let go of Kyler and the three skated away out of sight.

Christy was left both blushing and glaring at Joe. "I'm going to kill her."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at Christy. "Why do I have a feeling there was another reason besides interrupting us that they left?"

Christy unclenched her fists and looked at Shikamaru. "There was," she said.

The two rolled their eyes and continued on down the street, talking.

* * *

(1) Christy told me that Rock Village is known for evil people. Tells you about Jessie.

(2) Christy, does Timmy even know what 'Belligerent' means?

A/N::grins: hope you liked it Skysoul


	10. Tsunade's Curiousity Rises

Chapter Eleven: Tsunade's Curiousity Rises

"You did _what_?" Tsunade asked as she wrapped Anko's bleeding ankle.

"I tried roller blading," Anko said, wincing at the pain in her ankle. "Unfortunately, as you can see, I'm not very good at it."

Anko was sitting in one of the chairs in front of Tsunade's desk. Meanwhile, Tsunade was talking to her and trying to decipher what had happened to cause Anko's ankles to sprain and bleed this badly while she wrapped Anko's ankles in bandages.

"What about your students?" Tsunade asked.

Anko shook her head. "They're fine. They're all great at roller blading." She blushed. "I, however, as you can tell, need a lot of work."

Tsunade finished wrapping Anko's second ankle, and then sat in the chair behind her desk. She looked at Anko. "Talk to me, Anko. How is your team? What are they like?"

Anko smiled. "They're an exciting group to be with. They argue with each other a lot. It's been an interesting two weeks with them. Timmy's serious about his training, and yet he's very into his music and now skatebording. He seems to be very into teamwork, but with his friends. He and Joe get along okay, but he mostly hangs out with Kyler. Kyler is the clown of the group. He makes things light and humerous, although he has a tendency to run his mouth to the point where he drives Joe's patience to a dry stop. I swear he's gone to a medical ninja more than once for scratches on his body and for bruises Joe's given him."

"Yes," Tsunade said, smiling. "He's come to me every time. Which brings me to ask you a question that's been plaguing me. What is Joe like? I'm sure Ibiki told you about her mentioning the Kyubi."

Anko nodded. "Yes," she said. "Ibiki did tell me. Joe has a tendency to be more on the wild side. She likes to test limits, and does it well. But she's a hard worker and is trying to become the best ninja she possible can. She's doing great in the field of taijutsu, and has the art of transformation down, and can make up to three shadow clones, even if they aren't all that great. She has a short patience span, bad temper, huge sarcastic vocabulary, a tallent for smart-allec remarks, and a mean set of nails. But I've noticed that once training's over, Joe darts off and doesn't sho wherself again until the next morning. She's shown up to many practices bruised and bleeding. I think she trains both night and day, and doesn't get a lot of sleep. Also, I never see her eat lunch. She seems to be able to skip her lunch and still fight strong."

"Was your assessment when you first tested them the same now?" Tsunade asked.

Anko smiled. "Yes. Not just about Joe, but about all of my students. They all have the firey spirit of Konoha, and the heart of ninjas. They thrive to become the best ninjas possible. They understand teamwork, and while they might not always agree with what the others say, but they back each other up and act as a team. During training Joe tries to kill Kyler and beats him up so that he has to come to you. But once on a mission, someone beat Kyler up and came at him with every intention and opportunity to kill him. She leapt in front of Kyler, who was lying on the ground, and took the hit. She then beat up the ninja using techniques I didn't even know she knew, knocking the guy senseless. She yelled at him, 'You'll never hurt my teammates when I'm around!'"

Tsunade smiled. "That's an improvement over what you told me what she said on the first day of training."

Anko nodded. "It's a large and good improvement. Cell 5 is doing great as a team, and has recently grown stronger in the line of teamwork."

Tsunade nodded, her eyes full of approval. "Good. I'm glad. How are they doing int heir training?"

"Very well," Anko said, nodding. "Timmy's progressing well in his genjutsu, and he's completely mastered fire. Kyler's doing amazingly with his strength powers. He's completely mastered it. He's doing well in the area of ninjutsu. And then Joe's doing great in her taijutsu skills. She uses weapons a lot, using her chakra for something. She does a good amount of ninjutsu, and some genjutsu. The only genjutsu she seems to do is water genjutsu, and she's only learning."

Tsunade nodded. "Very good," she said in approval. "I'm glad to hear good things about my new Genin. So you believe after four missions that it was a good decision on my behalf to let them become Genin?"

Anko smiled. "Not only do I think that you made a good decision, I think these three might prove to be far greater ninjas than anyone in Konoha expected. I think they'll surprise us all. Which brings me to my second thought on the subject. I know that young Uzamaki Naruto has his heart set on becoming the next Hokage."

"Hmm," Tsunade said. "He does seem very determined, and his skills are impressive. But he needs to mature and learn responsibility."

Anko nodded. "I agree that his skills are impressive, but I think, that one of the nine new Genin may just give him a run for his money, or even moreso, one day one of them might become the next Hokage."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "You have that much confidence in your students after only two weeks?"

"Not only my students," Anko said. "I've spoken with the other teachers and observed some of the other students, and I see real tallen tin them." She frowned. "Other than the three younger ones. They're like three Konohamarus who learn way too slow."

Tsunade nodded. "I've noticed that too," she said. "I'm glad to hear that you approve, Anko." She handed Anko her sandals. "I wish you good luck with your team. I understand they can also be a handfull."

Anko laughed as she pulled her sandals off. "That's an understatement. One of these days, I want you to come down and watch one of our training sessions."

"I'm sure they'd just act good for me since I'm the Hokage," Tsunade said.

Anko laughed. "No. They wouldn't care whether you were there, or whether their lives were at stake on the way they behaved. They'll act the same no matter what."

Tsunade nodded and smiled. "I'll take you up on that offer some time."

Anko nodded and got to her feet. She tripped after taking a step, but caught her balance. She smiled at Tsunade. "Guess I'd better take it easy for a while until my ankles are better."

Tsunade smiled. "That'd probably be a good idea," she said

Anko nodded and limped on the way out of the office.

Tsunade smiled, still curious about the students. "I wonder if Anko's theories are right," she said, turning her chair around so that she looked out the window. She smiled even more. "Maybe she's right. Maybe we do have the future Hokage within our grasp, or the future second _Those Three_, just like myself, Orochimaru and Jairaya."

* * *

A/N: All right, everyone, thanks for continuing to read my story. I've been updating kind of more often than normal lately because I've been writing two chapters at a night. It'll probably be a little while before I update like this again, I'm not sure. One of the next two chapters will be Gaara's Hell, Kankuro's Heaven and Temari's Student Part 3, where I introduce Chris as Temari's student. And in case anyone was wondering, I can roller blade, and as far as I remember, so can Timmy and Kyler. That's where I came up with the chapter before, even it was kind of pointless. :grins: However, it wasn't entirely pointless. I assume that Skysoul of all people would understand the point of it. Please stay posted. 


	11. Not a chapter

NOT A CHAPTER!

A/N: okay, this is a just a note to some of my reviewers so that I can explain some things and make some comments.

**Smaaaaasha23: **First of all, I'm sorry that you don't like my story. Second of all, I'm very aware that Sand ninja do not like other ninjas in their Village. Third of all…. How do I put this to someone who doesn't even read the rest of the story… I know a humungous fangirl of Gaara. BIG WOOP! Generally people who pair other people with original characters are fangirls or fanboys. Now, the person who ends up with Gaara just happens to be an enormous fangirl, and if you have a problem with her ending up with Gaara, bring it up with Windedspirit, telling her that I recommended you. And to tell you the truth, I really don't give a damn. Fourth of all, I do not care whether or not you think my story is mary-suish. I find nothing wrong with mary-sues. And to tell you the truth, I wish you would continue to read my fanfic, but be more open minded to it. I understand though from your perspective why you don't like my story, but please, if you have a problem with it, don't put it in half a page to a page long series of three paragraphs. Thank you for being honest and thank you for saying that I have a writing talent. And also, to tell you the truth, I know that I make my characters mary-sues. It's never been intentional, I just do it on accident. My friends have brought it to my attention, and I will apologize online for it. I AM SORRY FOR MY MARY-SUES IF THEY OFFEND ANYONE! However, I'm not going to stop writing this story just because you find it offensive. Also, what story doesn't have a mary-sue? It may be unintentional to make them that way, but even real stories have mary-sues. I enjoy the story, and to tell you the truth again, I've seen stories even more mary-suish than mine. I could probably come up with a list of ten stories on fanfiction off of the top of my head that are more mary-suish. Thanks for reading the first chapter however, even if you didn't like it.

**MoonlitAngel007: **First of all, and I'm saying this politely… what in hell's name gives you the right to tell me whether or not I should post a story, and then persist to tell me to delete it! I don't care if you are a simple reviewers. Jessie and Temari are pretty much one and the same, to tell you the truth. I decided to have Jessie beat her that one time because they become hated rivals, for your information. Besides, I bet I could go onto your profile and find a story that I find a dozen things wrong and don't think should exist. However, I have the decency to keep my mouth shut about those kind of things. I see fanfics every day that I think should go to the trash. However, that's not my place to say. I know that there are people out there who enjoy those kind of stories. And to tell you the truth, this is my favorite book/manga series ever. I respect and care about these characters as much as the next person. So you know what? Why not stop attacking me and then go and tell a person whose fanfics are about good, sensible and respected characters together the same things your telling me? I'm sorry that you didn't like my story, and that's just one opinion. To tell you the truth, the character Krystal has only heard of this series, and doesn't know anything about it. The only reason I dragged her into it at all was because I needed one more person and I was off like mad at her that day.

**UmiKodo-chan: **Thank you for remaining loyal and I hope that you mean it when you give me compliments on my story. :grins: and yeah, I decided to put Anko through roller blading just for kicks. :frowns: I can't really imagine her doing it very well.

**Skysoul:** As ever, thank you for reading my story. I know that it's probably just because I'm your friend, but thank you for actually reading it. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, but just regular email me, please.


	12. an updateat last!

I AM SORRY TO ALL THAT I HAVEN'T UPDATED. I PROMISE I WILL SOON. AT LONG LAST, I GOT ACCESS TO A COMPUTER WITH INTERNET, WHICH MEANS THAT I CAN ACTUALLY UPDATE. I'M PLANNING ON UPDATING A COUPLE OF MY STORIES, BUT MY PRIORITY IS **WHCCB. **I'M ALSO PLANNING ON POSTING A NEW STORY SOON. ALTHOUGH, IT MAY BE A WHILE SINCE I'M TRYING OUT A NEW THEORY. I'M NOT GOING TO POST ANY STORIES UNTIL I HAVE THEM COMPLETELY FINISHED. THEN I WON'T MESS UP ON POSTING.

ANYWAY, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN ANY OF MY STORIES, AND YOU'RE STILL PAYING ATTENTION TO THEM EVEN THOUGH I'VE SLACKED OFF MAJORLY LATELY, THEN KEEP POSTED. BECAUSE AFTER TODAY I PLAN ON WRITING A LOT MORE NOW THAT I HAVE ACCESS TO INTERNET.

-TIGERFLESH


	13. Chapter Twelve

AN: I apologize for taking out the old Chapter Thirteen. I accidently updated the right chapter, but a sadly unfinished chapter. Here is the COMPLETE chapter. And Sky, you would know more about charka control and the Naruto world that Matt would any day.

Chapter Thirteen: The Biggest Trial Yet Begins

_**Team 9's Training Grounds**_

"All right, team," Iruka said as Andrew helped Christy to her feet. Christy and Andrew had just battled each other. Andrew had ended up beating Christy, but both were visibly worn out. "Gather around and take a breather."

As he watched the three teens gather in front of him and sit down, grabbing their water bottles and taking a drink, he couldn't help but admire them and their efforts. They had come in, completely raw and without any real talent whatsoever, unlike their friends, Teams 7, 8, and 10, and were now working hard to catch up with them. So far, in the month that the three new teams had been here, his team had shown a lot of promise.

Matt was coming along slowly. His interest seemed to lie more in the control of the ground. He had a knack for ninjutsu when it came to earth techniques. Iruka had no doubt that Matt would one day make a fine ninja, even if he wouldn't be great or spectacular like his teammates.

Andrew had begun to learn some basics, like the transformation jutsu and had taken a keen interest in charka control. However, he couldn't compare with Christy.

Christy, with her keen adaptation for ninjutsu techniques, was turning into quite a formidable ninja, one who Iruka had no doubt would one day be a dangerous ninja. She was already gaining a strong control on her charka. Iruka had decided to take a walk one night three days ago and walked by the park near where Shikamaru lived, the place where Christy was staying until she had enough money to get her own apartment, and he had seen her training. She had been drenched with sweat, suggesting that she had been training for a long time, and hard too. Then he had seen her hold her hands together in a hand seal, and concentrate hard with her eyes close. Then, she had pulled her right fist back and begin running toward a piece of wood that had been nailed to two stumps, five feet above the ground so that she could punch it. As he had watched her, Iruka had seen a blazing ball of yellow charka around her right fist, which had been clenched tightly. Then she thrust it forward and punched the wood board right in the center, breaking it like it was a piece of paper. She had backed off and Iruka had seen that her hand was bleeding, and bleeding badly. However, she hadn't seemed to even notice her injury. She had been beaming with pride. Later, once she was gone, Iruka examined the piece of wood and realized that if Christy had used any less charka, she wouldn't have been able to penetrate the piece of wood. Her knack for charka control was becoming quite amazing.

"All right," Iruka said, frowning. "Your greatest challenge yet is about to begin."

"What are you talking about?" Andrew asked, confused.

"I've entered all of you in the Chunin Exams," Iruka said.

"What?!" Andrew and Christy exclaimed in unison, their eyes huge.

"Why?" Christy exclaimed. "We've only been here for a month, and we're not even that good."

"I agree with Christy," Andrew said. "No matter how weird that sounds."

"Because I really believe you can do well, even if you don't pass on," Iruka said, smiling. "I believe that in another month, you'll be a lot stronger and more prepared. But still, you've come a long way. And I believe you can do it."

Christy's and Andrew's eyes widened with what seemed like uncontained pleasure.

"The what?" Matt asked in confusion, not understanding any of this.

_**Team 5's Training Grounds**_

"The Chunin Exams?" Kyler asked in confusion. He looked over at Joe. "Hey, isn't that that competition where a bunch of kids compete so that they can move up to the next level and nearly kill themselves in the process?"

Anko stood with her arms folded as she stared at her students and told them about the Chunin Exams, the greatest trial they would face yet.

Joe held her hands behind her back and stretched them back, popping her knuckles. She rolled her eyes. "In a boring and completely random nutshell, yes."

"And I have no idea what you're talking about," Timmy said, clearly having no knowledge of what the Chunin Exams were.

Dewie looked up at Joe and barked.

Joe nodded. "I know, Dewie. It's pathetic when you know what I'm talking about and he doesn't."

Dewie smiled.

Anko frowned. Like Inuzuka Kiba, Kurenai's student, Joe had somehow gained the ability to understand what Dewie said, even though they were two completely different species and spoke two completely different languages. Sometimes it got very annoying when the two would carry on what felt like a one-sided conversation for hours. There were times when Anko, Timmy and Kyler wanted to hurt the both of them. Problem was, the two made an incredible team and could easily take Timmy and Kyler on, and Anko couldn't bring herself to hurt Joe and Dewie. There was something she liked about her. Her sarcasm… Her smart-allecness… It reminded her of someone. Oh! Her!

Anko frowned. "All right, Joe. Since you seem to know so much about this world and it's traditions, you tell us all what the Chunin Exams are and what they're about."

Joe cleared her throat. "The Chunin Exams are a long-time tradition between the friendly countries. Each country chooses a set amount of ninjas to participate in a series of three exams and are observed. The exams get harder and harder as the ninjas proceed, and they're intended to help see if the Genin are ready to step up to the next level: Chunin. Each year, the Chunin Exams are held in a different location and during the third exam, the hardest of all three, the feudal lords come and observe the Genin. It's then that they decide who will pass on to become the next round of Chunin. Only the strongest and smartest proceed. So, to be even considered at our age and training level is an amazing honor," she added with a smile.

Dewie barked happily, standing up and wagging his tail.

Anko nodded. "I don't necessarily expect any of you to pass. But I believe that if you can pull all of your strengths together and act as a team, then you will do well. I've gotten to see the improvement in all of you in the last month. With another month of training in, I think you'll do well."

Joe smiled. _I'm glad we have such a nice teacher, who doesn't mind my smart-allecness at all._

Team 9

"I swear, if you don't make it to the third round of this Chunin Exams, I'm going to make sure that all three of you get sent straight back to the academy to start with the nine year old brats!" Ibiki yelled, his eyes blazing in anger.

"Ack!"

All three of the Genin stared at Ibiki with horror in their eyes. Ibiki frowned as he stared at them, reviewing their performances in the past in his mind. On their own, the three really had no special talents whatsoever. They were just a bunch of ignorant brats with large vocabularies. However, once together on the battlefield, they were a real team. Ibiki smiled to himself. They understood the true meaning of teamwork, which made him proud. (Though he would rather die than say it out loud.) He frowned. However, at the upcoming location and under whose Kage was in charge of this Chunin Exams, there was a strong possibility that they might not survive this Chunin Exams. Ibiki had no doubt that his students wouldn't pass on. Honestly, they didn't have a whole lot of talent individually, and he knew for sure that not all of the events would be team events. And, to be quite frank, they goofed off a lot, not giving him much to be impressed by.

_Kind of like a short, blonde boy I know,_ Ibiki thought, thinking of the fox boy.

But at the same time, Ibiki liked these kids. They never let a day go by boring and even when he was in his worst mood, they would always do something to make him smile on the inside, even if he would never dare to let them know that they could make him laugh. Honestly, he didn't want to send them back to the academy. He knew that if he could have some more time with them, these kids could become decent ninjas for this village someday. He doubted any of them would ever be a Hokage or anywhere close to that, but they could probably be okay ninja.

"B-but why?" Alex stuttered. "I mean, we've only been here a month, and we're not even that far into our training? After Tsunade beat us up, we lost a lot of time on training."

Ibiki couldn't suppress the tiniest of smiles. That was true. Tsunade had beaten all three boys to the point of hospitalization for a week.

"I know," Ibiki said. "But you've all come a long way. I believe that you'll do fine in the Chunin Exams, although I wouldn't raise my hopes about passing on to Chunin just yet."

"Right," Greg said, seeming to have calmed down from the shock of Ibiki's threat a little. "Where's the Chunin Exams going to be held this year?"

_**Sunagakure**_

"So the land of Sand is going to be the home for the Chunin Exams this year?" Temari asked, looking down at Gaara, who was sitting at his desk.

Gaara grunted. "Yeah. It's our turn this year."

"What do you plan on doing?" Temari asked. "I mean, this year you'll have the Konohagakure ninja here, as well as the three new Genin in our village."

"You mean Jessie, Chris and Krystal?" Gaara asked. "Yes. I'm aware."

"What do you think of them?" Temari asked.

Gaara grunted again. "Jessie's going to be a handful."

"She already is," Temari muttered.

Gaara nodded. "And Chris-"

The office door suddenly swung open and Kankurou ran in, panting hard.

"Gaara!" he panted hard.

"What?" Gaara asked impatiently.

"The west wing of the academy!" Kankurou rasped.

"Yeah, what about it?" Gaara snapped.

"It's been burnt down," Kankurou managed to get out.

"What?!" Temari exclaimed, her eyes huge. "But how could it burn down?!"

Gaara's eyes narrowed and gained a deadly look. "Get Jessie in here," he snapped.

_**Ten minutes later**_

Jessie stumbled into the office and glared back at Kankurou. "If you ever push me again, so help me, I'll…"

"Jessie!" Gaara snapped, his eyes blazing in fury.

Jessie turned her head and looked at Gaara, looking guilty. "You want to know about the academy?" she asked meekly.

"Jessie, this is the fourth building you've burned in the last month!" Gaara snapped.

Temari flinched. She hadn't seen Gaara this angry about something in a long time.

Gaara clenched his fist. "You're lucky no one was hurt. Still, thousands of dollars of damage has been laid on the Sunagakure government because of your carelessness!" He closed his eyes, attempting to calm down. "I have an idea in my mind to ban you from the Chunin Exams."

Jessie's eyes widened in horror. Gaara knew how important these Exams were to her.

"However," Gaara continued. "You'll be a valuable asset to the Village of Sand in these Exams. So, I'll let you go. But all of your earnings will be cut in half until the cost for repairs has been met."

"But that'll take forever!" Jessie argued.

"I have decided!" Gaara yelled.

Temari and Kankurou flinched.

Gaara calmed down. "Now, leave before I get even madder." He glared at Temari and Kankurou. "You two leave as well."

The three ninja nodded to Gaara and left in silence.

AN: Well, there you have it. The REAL chapter thirteen. I'll post chapter fourteen soon. Probably tomorrow or the day after. But I hope you liked the full chapter. And Sky, I'll talk to you soon. I loved the graduation and pictures.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Twelve: Shino's New Friend

Shino walked up the stairs of the mansion and headed for his room to get something before heading out to training. He walked past a door that was slightly open and heard someone yell, "Ow! Dewie! What was that for?! That was my foot you dropped that on!"

Shino opened the door a little and saw Joe standing inside, her hair down for once, picking up a duffle back off of her foot. Dewie, her big dog, had jumped up onto the bed and sat down, facing her. He then barked something, his tail wagging in amusement.

Joe glared at Dewie. "Thanks a lot," she said sarcastically.

Shino smiled in amusement and remembered the event two days ago, and how Joe had come to live in the Aburame house.

_Shino walked down the road, his hands in his pockets as he walked outside the Village. He was supposed to meet his dad in about fifteen minutes, but he wanted to have a little time by himself while his teammates got some extra training in with Kurenai-sensei._

_Shino continued walking until he heard a faint rustle. He stopped in place and glaced back. He heard a faint murmmer in his ear. That's what I thought, he thought to himself as his bugs talked to him. Shino closed his eyes, held his hands together, and all of a sudden, three people began floating in the air, green chakra surrounding them. All three were wearing black robes._

"_Hey! What?" one of them, a kunoichi with blonde hair yelled. "What's going on?"_

_Shino allowed them to fall to the ground with a "Thump!" He looked closely at their headbands, and said simply, "Cloud ninja."_

_One of the two male ninja got to his feet and glared at Shino. "That's right, punk," he said. "Now we don't have a problem with you, so why don't you get lost?"_

"_I take it your planning to invade Konoha?" Shino said, ignoring the enemy ninja's question as he secretly ordered his bugs to sneak up behind the ninja for attack._

"_That's right, kid," the kunoichi chuckled. "We're the Hitarashi Siblings, the deadliest assasins in the Village Hidden in the Clouds."_

"_Then it's saying something that a mere Genin could catch you three off your guard, isn't it?" Shino said, biting his time._

"_Why you…" the third ninja said, ready to attack._

_The kunoichi held her hand up. "Duck, brothers," she said._

_The two ninja dropped to the ground and the kunoichi waved her hand. As if hitting gasoline, fire errupted from her hand, flying through the air at an incredible speed. It came right at Shino and he nearly got hit, but he felt something hit him and pull him to the ground._

_Shino's glasses went flying off his face and for a moment he was blinded from the brightness of the flames. As his sight came back, he heard a voice yell, "Konoha huricane!"_

_Shino got to his feet and saw a black and orange flash fly through the air and knock two of the ninja over senseless. He barely saw the person as they landed on the ground and then disappeared. A moment later, he saw a bunch of bandage wraps fly around the kunoichi and tighten, and then heard someone yell, "Forward lotus!"_

_An orange flash hit the kunoichi and sent her flying up against a tree, breaking the tree in half and knocking the kunoichi senseless on the ground._

_Shino stared at the person who stood among the blood on the ground. For a moment he didn't recognize her, the Genin in black spandex._

"_Joe?" he said in surprise. "I thought you were Lee for a moment. I've only seen him use those kind of attacks."_

_Joe set the palm of her left hand on the back of her neck and laughed, her cheeks red in embaressment. "Yeah, well, since apparently I have no apptitude for ninjutsu or genjutsu, Gai-sensei has been training me in addition to Anko-sensei." She walked over to Shino's glasses, picked them up, and handed them back to him. She smiled. "You might want to put these on before anyone else sees your face."_

_Shino suddenly realized she was right and quickly put his sunglasses on. He didn't know what to say, but felt a rush of grattitude. "Thanks, by the way," he finally said._

_Joe smiled a friendly smile. "No problem," she said. "It was by pure chance I even came around here." She walked over to where Shino saw a set of legweights and pulled her legwarmers off so that she could pull the legweights back on. "I just happened to be taking a run." She hesitated, looked around, and added sulenly, "Though I don't think it was you she was trying to destroy with that fire technique."_

_Shino looked behind him and his eyes widened with horror. Sure enough, hundreds of the bugs he had ordered to attack the Cloud ninja now lay on the ground, dead. He felt a pang of loss at the death of the bugs who had helped him in so many battles._

"_Shino," a voice said. "You couldn't have done anything to stop their deaths. That's what they do for us."_

_Shino looked up and saw his dad walking over toward him, avoiding the insect bodies. Shino nodded._

_His dad turned to Joe and nodded to her. "Thank you," he said._

_Joe laughed nervously again. "It wasn't any trouble," she said. "Shino's my friend, so I figured I'd help him out."_

_Shino frowned, thinking. He had never disliked her, but he had never really thought about whether she was his friend or not. She was friends with Hinata and sort of friend/rival with Kiba, and Dewie got along relaly well with Akamaru, and he and Joe had always gotten along. I guess she is my friend, Shino thought. Well, as far as my friendships go, anyway._

_His dad nodded. "Without your help, Shino would probably be seriously injured, if not dead. He frowned. "You're with that group of nine kids who came in from nowhere a few months ago, aren't you?"_

_Joe nodded, smiling. "Yeah. I'm training under Mitarashi Anko to become a full-fledged Shinobi. We're already entered in the Chunin Exams, and everything."_

_Shino could see his dad smile, just by knowing his upper facial expressions. "Really?" he asked with interst. "Where are you staying?" _

"_With Rock Lee and his family," Joe said, nodding. "I've been training a lot with Maito Gai on my taijutsu, in addition to my normal training with Anko-sensei. So it makes sense to live with the Rocks where I can train on the side with Lee, since we're into the same kind of training."_

_Shino's dad nodded. "How would you like to stay with us?"_

_Shino and Joe's expressions were the same, both filled with surprise. Shino's dad never invited people over to their house! Usually the people never wanted to come because it was a rather creepy mansion to some eyes. Primarily because it was filled with so many bugs._

"_But why me?" Joe asked, confused. "Not that I have a problem with it, but why me?"_

"_It's the least we can do since you helped Shino out," his dad said._

"_I have a dog," Joe pointed out. "I don't go anywhere without him, except on runs like these."_

"_We have a million bugs in our place and we definetely don't go anywhere without them," Shino wanted to laugh at his father's joke._

_Joe smiled and relaxed. She turned to Shino and frowned. "What do you think?" she asked, clearly leaving it up to him._

_Shino shrugged. "I don't care," he said honestly. "It's your choice."_

"_But it'll affect you," Joe pointed out._

_Shino shrugged again. "I don't mind," he answered._

_Joe smiled and then turned to Shino's dad. "Sure, then," she said. "I'd be happy to."_

Shino watched as Joe set her stuff in one of the many vacant rooms in the mansion. Dewie lay on the bed, watching her while lagging his tongue, as though laughing at her for having to do all the heavy work. He barked something, his eyes twinkling as though laughing.

"Oh be, quiet, you lazy mutt," Joe said, glaring teasingly at her dog. "You're my partner as a ninja, aren't you? You've even got a headband like I do. So why don't you help me out?"

Dewie barked again, his tail wagging. He shook his head and his long, golden and white fur.

Joe shook her head. "Yeah, yeah. Excuses, excuses." Dewie turned his head and barked when he saw Shino.

"What?" Joe asked in surprise. She turned around and had a surprised look on her face. "Hey," she said, looking nervous. "Sorry about all the noise, if it's bothering you."

Shino shook his head. "No. I was just walking by and I heard that suitcase land on your foot."

Joe smiled and glared good-naturedly at her dog. "Yeah. Someone dropped it the moment he saw the bed." She smiled nervously back at Shino, then said, "I hope this really doesn't bother you, my living here and all. I mean, I know we've never really talked or been close friends or anything."

Shino shrugged. "I found it interesting that you called me your friend, but I don't mind you living here."

Joe shrugged also. "Well, I don't have that many friends here. Kyler and Timmy I guess are, kinda, I have Christy, Ino, Lee and Hinata." She smiled. "Then there's Kiba. He reminds me of a friend of mine who I left behind when we came here: loud, funny, loves animals and is kind of my rival." She shrugged again. "I guess he kind of is. I get along with Sakura and Naruto, but with Sasuke you can never tell. And Neji and TenTen have kind of become like teammates to me. I like TenTen, but Neji is Neji and stays aloof from everyone. I just kind of thought of you as my friend, my comrade like every other Genin I know."

Shino shook his head. "I really don't mind, being your friend or you living here. In fact, It'll be fun having someone around my age around the house other than me for a change."

Joe smiled, visibly relaxing. "Thanks," she said. She rubbed between Dewie's ears, making him visibly happy. "And hopefuly Dewie here will learn some manners."

"As long as he doesn't eat the bugs around the house, I don't care," Shino said.

Joe shook her head. "He'll chase 'em, but not eat 'em."(1)

Shino nodded. "Good." He frowned. "Did you mean what you said about the Chunin Exams?"

Joe nodded. "Yeah. Anko-sensei alaready turned in our applications and everything."

"It's still two months away, though," Shino pointed out.

Joe smiled a smile filled with mischief and amusement. "Believe me, we'll be more than ready by the time the Chunin Exams come. The other teams will have to be at the top of their games."

A/N: Well, everyone! I'm baaack! No, seriously, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a few months, not a real chapter anyway. But I've been really busy, failing my classes and having to get my grades back up. It's all a pain in the butt. But, then again, my grades have been about the same through eighth grade and now ninth. But hey! I got out of an 'F' in Algebra 2::tiger ears drop:: talk about a lot of pressure. Out of three hundred kids in the school, I'm the only freshman in Algebra 2. Anyway! Enough about me. About the story! (1) The thing about Dewie, very true. And on a side note, he does actually sit there while I do horrible things like picking his poop up in our backyard, lagging his tongue like he's laughing at me. But, anywho… I'm going to be updating soon, so R&R. ttyl


	15. Enter: The Cool Sharingan

A/N: Sorry about taking so long to update on a whole, but right now I'm updating all of the chapters from here to the end of the story.

Chapter Fourteen: Enter: The Cool Sharingan

"We are, _so_ lost," Kyler said.

"And whose fault is that?" Joe snapped, glaring back at Timmy.

"Hey! Back off, okay?" Timmy snapped back. "I may have lost the map, but that doesn't mean being lost is all my fault."

"Yes it does," Joe said.

"Arf!" Dewie barked loudly. _Shut up!_ He was lying on the ground with his paws covering his ears.

"Thank you, Dewie, even though I'm not sure what you said. Would you three just shut up?" Anko snapped. "I'm sick to death of hearing you three bicker non-stop. I thought we agreed that we were going to try to get along on this mission?"

"A simple trip to Amegakure that should have taken one day, two at tops, has now taken us four days thanks to Timmy," Joe said. "Forgive me if I'm not bubbling over with joy at the moment."

"Back off!" Timmy snapped.

"Make me, fire boy," Joe snapped, pushing Timmy. "I'm not exactly in the nicest of moods since we're stuck in the woods with no friekin' clue where we are!"

"Well, we might get an idea of where we are if you'd quit harassing me, Aburame!" Timmy argued, calling Joe by her new last name. Shino's dad had allowed her to take on the family name since she'd been living with them for nearly two weeks, and seemed to fit in just right with the family.

"Yeah right!" Joe retorted. "You couldn't find your way out of haystack."

"Neither could you," Timmy snapped. "You have the worst sense of direction in the whole country!"

"Me?" Joe asked in surprised. "I'm surprised you can find your way from your house to Tsunade's office."

"Would you two just shut up?" Kyler yelled. "I'm usually not the one to step in and stop your arguments, but I'm sick to death of hearing you two go back and forth at it like a couple of hyeenas fighting over a prey."

"I agree with the blondy," Anko said. "You two aren't helping us any by arguing."

"Whatever," Joe said. "Dewie, can you smell the way toward Amegakure?"

Dewie lifted his head and began sniffing the air. He barked. _This way!_ He then turned and began running off.

"Let's go," Anko said.

The group began running after Dewie, trying to keep him within eye's distance. Dewie just kept running and running, as if he had no limit to his energy. The group kept following, speeding up whenever Dewie's figure became faint.

Soon, Dewie stopped abruptly. Team 5 slowed down to a stop when they reached Dewie. They all stared ahead in surprise and smiles came to their face. Ahead of them was a town. Ninjas and civillians were walking around, talking among themselves.

"We're here," Anko said.

"Good boy, Dewie," Joe said, smiling as she rubbed between Dewie's ears. Dewie's tongue lagged happily.

"Let's go find Mrs. Sasuya,"Anko said, talking about the woman who had hired them.

Team 5 followed Anko down the road and over to a female ninja who Anko stopped. "Excuse me," Anko said. "Do you know where Sasuya Ayame lives?"

The kunoichi nodded. "Yeah. She lives in that house," she said, pointing to a large house on the right side of the street.

"Thank you," Anko said, and let the kunoichi go on her way. She nodded to her students. "Let's go," she said.

The three kids and dog followed Anko down the road over to the designated house. Anko knocked on the door. A plump woman with red hair and wearing a kimono opened the door. "Yes?"

"I'm Mitarashi Anko and these are my students," Anko said. "We're here to answer the request to Leaf Village made by Sasuya Ayame."

The woman smiled. "I'm Sasuya Ayame. I'm glad you could make it. Come in." She opened the door and let the five come in. Ayame closed the door behind them. "I'm glad you're here. I wrote in that I had two requests. One was that I wanted my house guarded for an hour and a half while I'm off shopping. The other is that I need my cat found."

"Cat?" Anko asked.

Ayame nodded. "Yes. He's a large black and white cat. He's kind of on the heavier side."

"I wonder where he got that from," Kyler muttered under his breath. Timmy and Joe grinned, trying not to laugh.

Ayame didn't seem to hear. "I was walking through the large woods behind my house with him and when I turned around, he was gone. I've hired half a dozen ninjas from my own Village to go out into the woods to look for him, but they can never seem to find him. I was thinking that maybe you and your students could help me."

Anko nodded. "We'll do our best. I'll stay behind and guard your house while you go shopping, and my three students can go out into the woods _together_," she added with a glare at her students, "And will find your cat for you."

Kyler, Joe and Timmy all glared at Anko, daggers deep in their eyes. It was obvious from their glares that they would each have liked to attack Anko and beat her up enough to send her to the hospital.

"Fine," Joe said through gritted teeth.

"Let's go," Timmy said through gritted teeth as well.

"Good luck," Ayame said.

"Whatever," Kyler muttered.

The three Genin and Dewie turned around and walked out of the house and then around it. They walked into the large woods behind the house and began looking around, constantly calling out.

"Cat!" Kyler yelled. "Where are you, cat?!"

"Find him, Dewie," Joe said. "Look for the scent of any cat." Dewie nodded and ran off with his nose to the ground. "Kitty!" Joe yelled. "Here, kitty, kitty."

"Where are you, fat-cat?" Timmy yelled. He turned his head and saw Kyler and Joe staring at him with an eyebrow raised. "What?" he asked innocently.

"You're weird," Joe said, turning and walking away.

_**One hour later…**_

Joe sat down and leaned against a tree as set her arms on her bent knees. "This is hopeless," she said.

Kyler and Timmy both plopped down next to trees in front of Joe, creating a triangle between the three of them. "That cat is nowhere in sight," Timmy said.

"And my feet are sore," Kyler moaned. "We've been walking out here for an hour with no sign of the stupid cat."

"I get why the other ninjas couldn't find the cat," Timmy said. "You know, maybe the cat's dead, and it's been eaten by birds, and that's why we can't find it."

"Ewww," Kyler and Joe said in unison, their faces obviously disgusted.

"Hey, it could happen," Timmy said in his defense.

Joe frowned. "And I haven't seen Dewie since I sent him off right after we got in these woods."

"Maybe he's found the cat," Kyler said. "That would make my day."

"Your dog's actually turning out to be pretty useful, to my dismay," Timmy said. "He's helped us out more than once since we became a team."

Joe shook her head. "We may be on the same cell," she said. "But we haven't become a team yet. We still don't trust each other."

"Timmy and I trust each other," Kyler said. "It's that you don't trust us and we don't totally trust you."

Joe shrugged. "But I do agree with you, Timmy. He is turning out to be a great addition. I wasn't sure if he would be as much help to our group as Akamaru is to Kiba, but he's turned out to be just as much of a ninja as the rest of us."

"Wow," Kyler said, looking stunned.

"What?" Timmy asked.

"Joe just said she agreed with you," Kyler said. "I don't think I've heard that in years."

"Well don't get used to it, bighead," Timmy said.

"Diddo," Joe said.

"Bark! Bark!"

Joe turned her head and was surprised to see Dewie running over. "Dewie?" she asked in surprise. "Did you find him?"

Dewie growled deeply, almost threateningly. Then he shrunk down, whimpering.

"What's going on?" Timmy asked.

Joe stood up, frowning. "Dewie said that he hasn't found the cat, but that he found someone in the woods with dark chakra and he feels that this person is very threatening to us."

Kyler grinned as he and Timmy stood up. "Then let's go find out who this person is."

"You read my mind, dude," Timmy said, hitting high-fives.

Joe nodded, smiling. "Let's do it." She looked down at Dewie. "Show us the way, boy."

Dewie nodded and turned around. He began racing through the woods with the three Genin right behind him. Soon, Dewie stopped right inside a large clearing. The three kids stopped right behind him.

Joe's eyes widened when she looked across the clearing. Standing there was a man in a red and black cape with black hair.

"No way," Joe said, her eyes huge.

Dewie began growling with his ears pinned back slightly and his claws unsheathing.

"Quiet," Joe said. Dewie shut up immedietely, looking confused.

"Is that…" Kyler began, slightly recognizing the person.

"Who is this guy?" Timmy asked. "You guys know who he is?"

"It can't be," Joe siad, her eyes even wider than before. "No way. Uchiha Itachi?"

The man turned around and revealed his scarlet red and black eyes. His eyes seemed to penetrate through all of them. Dewie backed up a few feet, low to the ground as he eyed the man warily.

"Yes?" he asked.


	16. Kyler and Timmy In The Hospital

AN: And so, the second of many chapters with my favorite anime character of all time is entering. I once had a huge crush on Itachi, but now he's just my awesomest and most favorite character of all time! Anyway, here we go with my favorite chapter yet. And just as a warning, in the second part of this series, Itachi will return several times and in a general sense become a major character. Also, I had to add three chapters today to make room for more to be added on my document collection thing.

Chapter Fifteen: Five Ways for Kyler and Timmy to End Up in the Hospital

"No way," Joe said, her eyes huge.

Dewie glared up at the stranger and opened his lips, baring his teeth. His claws unconciously unsheathed as he prepared to fight this guy.

"Quiet," Joe snapped.

Dewie shut up immedietely, looking up at her confused.

"Is that…" Kyler began, slightly recognizing the person.

"Who is this guy?" Timmy asked. "You guys know who he is?"

The man turned around and revealed his scarlet red and black eyes. His eyes seemed to penetrate through all of them, sending a cold chill through Dewie's spine.

Dewie backed up a few feet, low to the ground as he eyed the man warily.

"It can't be," Joe gasped. "Uchiha Itachi?"

"…" the guy said.

Dewie glared up at the stranger, then up at Joe in confusion. Why was she so shocked to see this guy? And why did he see some happiness in her eyes when he gave off such a dark aura.

"I can't believe it," Joe stared, wide-eyed in awe.

"Who is this joke?" Timmy asked.

Joe glared at Timmy with more hate in her eyes than Dewie had seen in a long time. His eyes widened.

"How dare you call him a joke!" Joe spun around and smashed the back of her leg into Timmy's head, sending up flying.

Timmy hit the ground hard and glared up at Joe when he turned around. "Hey! Watch that! Don't forget you've got gazillion pound legweights on your legs. They hurt!"

"Well, don't' make fun of him," Joe snapped.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at them. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Joe, and these are my the other members of my cell, Kyler and Timmy," Joe said. "The idiot who I just kicked is Timmy."

"How do you know who I am?" Itachi asked.

Dewie saw a kunai suddenly appear in Itachi's hand within a blink of an eye. His ears pricked alarmingly. "Joe," he growled. "His hand."

"I know, Dewie," Joe whispered. She said out loud, "You're famous where I'm from."

"I'm famous everywhere," Itachi said.

"No kidding," Joe said sarcastically.

"Would someone mind telling me who this arogant moron is!" Timmy yelled.

In less than a heartbeat, Joe flung a kunai at Timmy. Timmy ducked and the kunai just grazed through his hair, flying right into the tree behind Timmy.

"Hey!" Timmy yelled. "Quit it! I'm your teammate!"

"Yeah, but quit making fun of him!" Joe yelled. "I admire him more than anyone in the ninja world!"

Itachi raised an eyebrow.

Kyler stared at Joe in confusion. "Are you on crack?" he exclaimed.

Dewie smirked. Obviously, this guy wasn't your normal idol.

"No," Joe said. "But he's, like, one of the strongest people in the world!"

"True," Itachi said. "But you're probably the first person to admire me, esspecially if you know why I'm famous, or infamous rather."

"I don't care!" Joe exclaimed. "You're my romodle! Or rather, I admire your strength and abilities, but not necessarily your position in the Akatsuki."

"What the heck did this idiot do to make himself so famous?" Timmy snapped.

"Quit calling him an idiot if you don't want to get hit again," Joe snapped angrily.

"He killed everyone in his family except Sasuke, his younger brother, and then went and joined one of the most notorious groups in the entire ninja world, the Akatsuki," Joe said. "The Akatsuki's goal is to take over the world through the tailed demons and hired ninja."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "How do you know that about the Akatsuki?"

"And you admire him?" Timmy exclaimed. "Are you high, Joe! You admire this long-haired, selfish, girly freak who murdered his Clan just to get strong? Even for you that–"

Timmy never finished his sentence. Joe spun around in a circle, nailing Timmy in the face and sending him flying up against a tree.

"Joe!" Kyler exclaimed as he ran over to Timmy's side. "What'd you do that for?" he yelled as he glared up at Joe.

"Kyler? Timmy? Joe? What's going on?" Anko's voice said as she suddenly appeared behind them, running up. Her eyes grew wide when she saw Itachi. "Itachi! What are you doing here in Konoha again?"

"Conducting some research," Itachi said. He looked at Joe. "Though it appears your students have given me quite a lot of entertainment arguing with one another." He dipped his head to Joe and Anko. "I'm sure we'll see each other again." With that, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Anko glared at her students, including Timmy, who had come to by now. She scowled. "I expect an explenation for why you ran into Uchiha Itachi, why you were talking with him, and why Timmy is nearly knocked out on the ground." She sounded extremely pissed and grouchy, even more than normal.

The boys looked at each other, than up at the girls. "Um, Anko-sensei," Timmy said. "I know this may be pushing my luck seeing as Joe's beaten the crud out of me as it is, but… are you two on your periods?"

Dewie yelped, his eyes wide in surprise Joe and Anko's eyes widened in shock. Anko narrowed her eyes and Joe's eyes narrowed to slits, the same deadly look in them.

"Joe," Anko said in a dark voice. "Kill them."

A/N: Well, as the title of this story suggests, Timmy and Kyler ended up in the hospital and lessons for them were postponed for two days, a day in the hospital, and then a day for getting back to Konoha, in which they got back on time without getting lost. This will be the only time Itachi will appear in Part 1, but he'll reappear quite a bit in Part 2. Sorry this chapter was so short.


	17. Hell Begins To Freeze Over

Chapter Sixteen: Hell Begins to Freeze Over

"Absoloutely not. No way! No how," Person 1 said.

"Isn't that like mixing fire and gasoline?" Person 2 asked.

"It may be, but those three will work better together than with anyone else," Person 5 said.

"Yeah, and kill us all in the process," Person 4 said.

"What about my students?! Those two groups will try to kill each other," Person 2 complained.

"That's the problem," Person 4 said.

"They aren't getting the chance! I don't care how strong they are, or how good they work together. I ain't takin' 'em!" Person 1 said.

"You _will_ take them," Person 5 said.

"No! No. No. No. Absoloutely not. I'll take any of them, as long as they're not all together," Person 1 said.

"I agree with him. Putting those three on the same team is like asking for God to strike us all dead right now," Person 6 said.

"They have the most devious, most conspiracing minds in the Village," Person 8 said.

"I don't care. They will train best as a group, and that's what we're trying to do. They know teamwork better than any of the other students," Person 5

"That's not true. My team would kill for one another," Person 2 said.

"And apparently so would this group," Person 3 said

"Do you realize what will happen if we put these six in groups under these specific teachers?" Person 6 asked. "I mean it seriously."

Person 5 nodded. "I understand all of your concerns. I really do. But I've made my decision." All of the teachers sighed but didn't say anything else. Person 5 nodded. "Tomorrow we will begin the first Mixer."

"And you have now sentenced me to death," Person 1 muttered.

* * *

"As some of you may have guessed, since both the Sand and Leaf have gathered together," Tsunade began, "Something very important will start as of today."

The kids all looked up at her in surprise and confusion.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes, starting this year, and from now on, every six months we will be conducting a new experiment. Leaf have decided to use this as a trial run, and Sand has agreed to let us use this as a trial run. It's called a Mixer, and like the name suggests, we'll be mixing you up, switching you from your regular teams, to new teams, under new leaders."

"Yes!" the kids exclaimed.

Tsunade frowned. "Now, since a number of your comrades have had to leave us…" Joe, Chris and Sakura all lowered their heads. Tsunade continued, "We'll have to continue without them and have less groups. This trial will last a month. Our goal here is to stretch communications with your new teammates, to get to know your strengths, to eventually stretch this out beyond our Konoha to our Sand allies, and to learn leadership and teamwork outside your own cells."

Everyone nodded.

"All right," Tsunade said, nodding. "I'll name the teams off. Taught by Asuma will be Jordan, Hyuga Hinata, and Yamanaka Ino." The three nodded. Tsunade looked over at the other kids. "Taught by Somah will be Greg, TenTen, and Haruno Sakura." The three nodded. Tsunade lifted her head. "Taught by Ibiki will be Alex, Rock Lee and Matt."

"Okay," the three kids said. "Taught by Gai will be Chris, Matt and Aburame shino." Tsunade looked at the boys. "Taught by Anko will be Kyler, Timmy and Matt."

"Yes!" Andrew, Kyler and Timmy said, hitting high-fives.

"And that leaves Kakashi," Tsunade said. "Who will be training Aburame Joe, Christy and Jessie."

"Oh yeah!" Joe laughed, hitting high-fives with Jessie and Christy.

"Score!" Jessie laughed. "That's what I'm talkin' about!"

"Sweet!" Christy laughed.

All of the other kids stared at Tsunade, looking as if they had just found a black hole up in the air to engulf the entire universe.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Chris said.

"Do you realize what you've done?" Andrew asked.

"What?" Jessie asked, smirking. "Afraid of some competition for the Number 1 title?"

Andrew narrowed his eyes. "Not from you." "Oh yeah, afraid that you might be beaten by a group of girls?" Christy asked, her eyes narrowed. "Chicken?"

Andrew's fists were clenched and his eyes blazed. "You are so dead," he muttered.

"Bite me," Jessie said.

"And, don't forget now that if you pick a fight with one of us, you pick a fight with all three of us," Joe said, her eyes narrowed. Andrew's eyes narrowed angrily, but he shut up.

"Vise versa," Kyler said, glaring back at Joe.

Joe raised an eyebrow. "Need I remind you of the fourth grade?" (1) Kyler's eyes widened and he shut up.

Kakashi closed his eyes. _That's what I was afraid of. Here we go, heading into the firey depths of hell._

* * *

(1) Don't ask. It was an accident, and it was the fourth grade. A lot of strange things happened that year. 


	18. Three Ninjas And A Drunk

A/N: This is one of my most random chapters, and also the longest so far. I just randomly came up with it one day, and I got the idea for the title from the move "three men and a little baby/lady". Hope you like it. the point of it was to make you laugh, not to be really serious or perverted or anything.

* * *

Chapter Eightteen: Three Ninjas and a Drunk Teacher "Come on, girls," Kakashi said, nodding away from the training grounds. After a long day of training (14 hours to be exact) Kakashi had finally said that they could stop for the day. Joe, Jessie and Christy were all panting. Joe was sitting on the ground, Christy was sitting on a large rock, and Jessie was leaning on one hand against a tree. Even Kakashi was panting slightly. 

_Those girls are three heck of ninjas_, Kakashi thought. _But training with them is tougher on me than with my own team._ "Come on," he said. "I'm going to treat you all to dinner."

"All right," Jessie said, smiling.

"I can deal," Joe said.

"I'm game," Christy said, smiling.

"All right," Kakashi said nodding. "Let's go."

Kakashi walked behind the three girls, pretending to read Icha Icha Violence. But he was really listening to the three girls talk. They were talking about training and different jutsus and summonings they had seen before.

Kakashi smiled. _These girls aren't like the others. While Jessie has been dating Gaara for about a week now(and only heaven knows how that happened), Christy might as well be dating Shikamaru, and Lee obviously likes Joe, all they seem to talk about is training. And they really seem to understand the whole concept of teamwork. They'd kill to protect one another. If they weren't such handfulls, and if I didn't have my own cell already, I'd like to teach them._

Soon, the group reached a plain building that the girls had seen several times and they all stopped at thedoor.

"What are we doing here, Kakashi-sensei?" Jessie asked.

"I love this place. It helps me releave all stress. I come here every time I'm in Sunagakure," Kakashi said.

He opened the door up and let the girls walk in first, following close behind them. The girls walked ahead of Kakashi and down the hallway. Joe and Jessie stepped out of the dark hallway first, Christy stepping between them. Joe coughed in surprise, a grin coming to her face as she looked around them. There were about fourty people in the building, sitting down at tables. There were waiters constantly coming out from a bar-style counter with trays of food and drinks. There was also a large stage that most of the people were facing, where a woman was singing into a microphone.

"A bar?" Christy exclaimed, looking back at Kakashi. "You brought us to a bar?!?!"

Kakashi smiled. "Yeah. Like I said, I come here every time I come to the Sand Village in order to releave stress. Don't worry. They serve more than alchohol if you don't like the stuff. There's regular food and soda here too."

"I don't care asbout that!" Christy yelled. "You brought Jessie to a BAR!"

Kakashi shrugged. "So?" he asked.

"DO YOU NOT SEE THE PROBLEM HERE?!?!?!?!?!"

Jessie and Joe weren't paying attention. They recognized the end of the song being sung and began singing as well, bobbing their heads somewhat to the beat.

"_If you're going through hell,_ _Keep on movin',_

_Don't slow down._

_If you're scared, don't show it._

_You might get out,_

_'fore the Devil even knows you're there._

_You might get out,_

_'fore the Devil even knows you're there._"

Everyone began clapping and turned their heads back to look at the group that had just walked in.

"You kids sang the end of that?" a woman asked, sounding impressed.

"Yes, ma'am," Joe said.

"You bet," Jessie said.

"Kakashi!" one of the male ninjas in the crowd yelled. "You brought kids in here?"

Kakashi set a hand on Joe and Jessie's shoulders. "Don't worry about it. These kids are getting ready for the Chunin Exams and have worked really hard today. Besides, they're going to make tonight a blast with their musical tallents."

Everyone began cheering

"Oh yeah," Christy muttered, giving her 'Christy Face' with her eyes half-closed in annoyance. "It'll definetely be different from what you're used to, if I know Jessie, and I do."

"Come on," Kakashi said, leading the three Geninto the bar. All four sat down on seperate stools next to one another and waited until a bartender came up to the counter.

"What can I get you all?" he asked.

"The normal, Sessho," Kakashi said, running a hand over his face.

"Okay," the man said, nodding. "How about you three?" he asked, looking at the girls.

"Jack Daniels in the bottle," Jessie said.

"Mountain Dew," Christy said.

"Your strongest beer that comes in a bottle," Joe said, looking pooped.

Sessho nodded. "I'll be back." Once he was gone, Christy and Jessie stared at Joe, wide-eyed

"Joe," Christy said. "Are you feeling all right?"

"No," Joe said, closing her eyes. "Why?"

"You just ordered a stronger beer than Jessie," Christy said

"We'll see who can hold our liquor best, now won't we?" Joe asked, opening the eye facing her friends.

Jessie held a hand out. "Deal. First one to the bathroom to vomit pays the winner fifty bucks."

Joe shook Jessie's hand before placing it under her chin again along with the other hand. She closed her eyes again.

"All right," Sessho said, reappearing at the bar with two glass bottles and a large glass full to the rim of beer. He set the glass in front of Kakashi and handed one of the bottles to Jessie and the other to Joe. He soon returned with a full glass of Mountain Dew and handed it to Christy.

Joe pulled the lid of the bottle and looked down it. "I forgot my Ibuprofen today, so you'd better do the job." She put the opening to her mouth and tipped the bottle, chugging. Jessie was also chugging down her beer. She lowered it and a moment later let out a huge belch.

"Jess!" Christy exclaimed.

"BELCH!" Kakashi suddenly belched even louder and higher pitched than Jessie.

"Kakashi? Girls?" a voice asked. The girls and Kakashi turned their heads and saw a familiar person walking over.

"Kurenai?" Jessie asked in shock.

"Kakashi!" Kurenai exclaimed, staggering over with a friend of hers. It was more than obvious that they had both had one too many taqueilla shots. "You brought fourteen-year-old Genin here?" her eyes widened when she recognized Jessie. "YOU LET JESSIE HAVE BEER?!?!?!"

Kakashi stood up and steadied Kurenai by clutching her shoulders. "It's all right, Kurenai. Everything's under control, except for you that is."

Kurenai snorted. "Yeah," she said sarcasticlly. "I can see that. You have a three-pint glass of beer half gone, Jessie's got beer, luckily Christy's being sensible by not drinking, and…" She fumed. "Joe is over there drinking like an elephant, and she just finished that bottle of beer."

"What?!" Kakashi, Christy and Jessie exclaimed, all staring at Joe. It was true. Joe was holding an empty glass beer bottle on the counter, panting slightly.

"Joe," Kakashi said, looking uneasy. "Have you ever drank before?"

Joe shook her head. "No."

"Joe!" Christy and Jessie exclaimed in shock. "You idiot!" Christy yelled, looking outraged.

"You're a drinker now!" Jessie exclaimed, smiling. "Welcome to the—"

"BELCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Joe belched, her eyes wide.

Jessie began laughing her head off, while Kakashi merely smiled.

"Feel better?" Christy asked, smirking.

"My lungs, yes," Joe said. "My headache, not yet." She gave an akward face. "Crap."

"What now?" Jessie asked.

"No," Joe said, getting off of the stool. "I mean _crap_." She bolted for the bathroom as fast as she could go.

The three returned to their drinks after Kakashi let go of Kurenai. Kurenai waved and staggered away, holding onto the counter. Ten minutes later, Jessie and Kakash had finished their drinks and Christy was halfway through her Mountain Dew.

Joe appeared from the hallway that led down to the bathrooms and several other rooms. Her arm was wrapped around her stomach and she walked back over to her seat. "Give me another bottle," Joe said.

Sessho nodded and disappeared into the other room.

"Did you throw up?" Jessie asked excitedly.

"No," Joe said, her voice normal now. Sessho came back out with an open, full bottle and gave it to Joe. Joe took a swig of the beer. "I just spent ten minutes on the toilet peeing."

"Don't worry," Jessie said. "It's normal. Everyone goes through it."

"You get used to it," Kakashi said. He was working on his second three-pint glass of beer. He sounded drunk already.

"Oh yeah," Christy said, smirking smugly. "Esspecially when you drink a whole bottle of the hardest beer in all of Sand Village in five minutes!"

Joe took another swig. "I'm drinking it slower this time," she said, setting the bottle on the counter again, but not letting go of it.

"All right, everyone," someone on the stage said. "It's karaokee hour now, from 9:00 – 10:00. Now, I know that all of you out there have good singing voices, so I want you to all come up here at some point tonight. Now, someone get up here!" she said in a good-natured voice.

"Kakashi! Kakashi!" everyone yelled, pounding their tables.

The girls laughed and began pounding the table as they chanted also. "Kakashi! Kakashi!"

Kakashi, who had finished six pints of beer and was sipping his third glass, smiled and set his glass down. He got to his feet and he staggered as he took a step. "Woah!" he said. "The room is turning." The woman on the stage clapped and laughed. "Come on, Kakashi! Come on up here and give us another one of your great songs. I'm sure it'll leave someone out there 'satisfied'."

Many of the girls in the crowd let out swooning sounds as Kakashi began to walk up to the stage. Jessie, Christy and Joe cheered. Joe and Jessie took a long swig of beer as Kakashi grabbed the microphone.

As the music began, Joe and Jessie both snorted while still drinking. They set their drinks down on the counter, choking and coughing as they tried to laugh.

"What?" Christy asked, not understanding what was so funny.

"Turn it up now," Kakashi began to sing.

Joe pointed to Kakashi and laughed, still choking. "The song… the song he's about to sing."

"It's the Honkeytonk Badonkadonk(?)," Jessie said, laughing.

"What?" Christy exclaimed, smiling. "How drunk can that idiot get?" She joined Jessie and Joe in laughing.

"How," Joe said. "How is it that Jessie and I can hold our liquor better than our teacher?"

Christy shook her head. "It's a mystery." She frowned. "Hey, Joe, I've been meaning to ask you about something. I haven't seen you and Lee hang out since we got here. What's the deal with that?"

Joe frowned. "What do you mean? We've all been working with our new teams, so we haven't had any time to 'be together'."

"I guess," Christy said. It was obvious that the answer didn't satisfy her.

Jessie frowned. "I've been wondering that, too."

Joe shook her head. "It's not like we're dating or anything, so what's the big deal?"

The two shrugged.

"She's got that honkeytonk, badonkadonk," Kakashi began to sing, fitting the microphone into the stand.

(A/N: Someone, PLEASE help me with that if it's wrong. And I'm not completely sure about the lyrics now, so please help me if I'm wrong.)

By now he had already taken his vest off and thrown it to the ground.

"_Keepin' perfect rythem._

_If you wanna swing along,_

_She's got it movin' on, like Donkey Kong._

_Woo we! Shook my mouth_

_Slap your grandma._

_There oughta be a law,_

_Get the sheriff on the phone._

_Lord, have mercy!_

_How' she even get them britches on!"_

Joe, who was still laughing her head off, got to her feet and sat on her stool. She reached into her backpack and pulled her video camera out and set it on the counter. She turned it on and then spun the seat of the stool around. She laughed. "Presenting to all who watch this video," she said. "And for my enormous amusement, I present Kakashi, very, _very_ drunkenly, singing Honkeytonk Badonkadonk."

Joe, Christy and Jessie all laughed. They turned their heads and saw Kakashi take his shirt off. Jessie, Joe and Christy all laughed, but Joe and Christy held their hand over their eyes as they turned their head away. Then they took their hands off of their face.

"Dude," Joe said, taking a swig of her beer before talking again."Great singer, esspecially when drunk, but I do NOT need to see the abs of my teacher who's thirteen years older than me."

"I don't need to see the abs of _any_ guy!" Christy said, her eyes huge.

Joe and Jessie began laughing their heads off. Christy shoved Joe in the shoulder hard, sending her to the ground. Joe lay on the ground, laughing her head off and gripping her aching stomach, which hurt from laughing.

"What about Jessie?" Christy demanded, trying to change the subject. Joe, Jessie and Christy, who were all watching, turned their heads as they saw Kakashi do something they shouldn't have seen.

"Woah!" they all exclaimed in unison, covering their eyes and letting out moans of disgust and disturbance. Joe used her free hand, not moving the hand with the video camera.

"Put the pants back on, Kakashi!" Jessie yelled, her eyes covered.

"And the shirt too!" Christy yelled.

"At least the pants!" Joe yelled. She turned her head and saw Kakashi pulling his pants on over his red and black boxers. Joe shook her head. "Does he do this every time?" "You're watching it?!" Christy and Jessie exclaimed in unison. "Don't worry," Joe said. "He's pulling his pants on." "You saw him pull his pants back on?" Christy exclaimed. Joe scowled. "No matter what I say, you're going to find smething wrong with it, aren't you?"

"Um, Joe," Jessie said uneasily, staring at Joe's hand. "Did you… just tape…Kakashi stripping?"

Joe looked down at her camera and suddenly realized it was still taping. "Oh shit!" she exclaimed, immedietely turning the camera off. She set the camera on the counter. She grabbed her beer and stared down its opening. "Beer," she said. "Do the trick." She lifted the bottle to her mouth and began chugging as hard as possible.

About three minutes later, Joe slammed the empty bottle down on the counter. "Another one," she said, and several moments later began chugging down on another bottle.

Kakashi walked over from the stage, his shirt and vest in one of his hands. He set it down on the stool next to Jessie, his stool, and set one hand behind Jessie, looking her in the eye. Jessie was drinking her beer.

"Hey, Jessie," Kakashi said. "How about a kiss from my favorite student?"

Jessie took another swig of beer and set the bottle down on the counter. Joe and Christy stared in surprise and curiousity, curious at what Jessie would do. Sure, he was thirteen years older than her, but she was 'in love' with him to a degree. She was one of his biggest fangirls ever. Joe picked up her videocamera and began taping without letting Jessie see. Jessie leaned forward so that her face was less than two inches away from Kakashi's.

"First of all," she said. "Back away about four inches. Your breath reeks." Kakashi backed his face away a little. Jessie continued. "Second, you're thirteen years older than me. Third, put your shirt on. I really prefer not to see a guy's abs, except for Gaara that is, but that's beside the point. Put the shirt on, even if I think your abs _are_ impressive. Fourth, you have a mask on."

"That can be fixed," Kakashi said in a saductive voice.

"He _is_ drunk!" Christy muttered to Joe, leaning back and talking to her.

Joe snickered. "And I'm getting it all on tape, and they don't even know it."

Christy chuckled. "You're evil." She paused, then added, "Get me a copy when this is done."

Jessie smiled. "I'll tell you what. I'll give you a kiss on the cheek if you take the mask off."

Kakashi reached up with his hand and began to pull his mask down. Joe zoomed in on Kakashi's face without making it obvious. Both Jessie and Kakashi were amazingly drunk, more Kakashi than Jessie. By now Jessie had had five and half beers, each harder than the one before. They were completely oblivious right now. Kakashi pulled his mask off of his face. Christy and Joe's eyes widened as they saw his face. It was young-looking and to be blunt, quite handsome. Joe looked down to make sure that her camera was on. She and Christy began laughing as Jessie leaned forward and kissed Kakashi on the cheek. When she pulled back, Kakashi kissed her on the cheek as well before pulling his mask on over his nose. Joe quickly turned the camera off and set it on the counter before Jessie or Kakashi could tell she had just taped that, acting innocent.

hristy and Joe both laughed uncontrollably. "You got it?" Christy whispered.

"In zoom," Joe whispered back. They laughed even harder. Kakashi pulled back a bit, giving room between him and Jessie.

"Kakashi!" Kurenai's friend yelled, staggering over. She was twice as drunk as before, but had somehow managed to keep her clothes on. She walked up to Kakashi and leaned against him. She whispered something in Kakashi's ear. Kakashi raised an eyebrow back at the girl. "Let's go."

He looked at the girls. "We'll be back in a while. We've got to talk about some stuff."

"Right," the three girls said.

Over the next three hours, the girls had a good time and talked about anything and everything, Joe and Jessie getting even higher on beer than Christy ever dreamed. "All right, everyone," the announcer for the karaokee said. Her name was Mizumi. "It's time for karaokee again. Who's gonna go first?"

Joe shook her head. "I've got this song I can't get out of my head," she said. "I'll be back in a bit guys." She got off of the school and walked up onto the stage.

Christy looked at Jessie, who was drinking her twenty-first bottle of beer. "How is she going to sing drunk? She's had eighteen bottles of that beer. You haven't even had that much alchohol in your system yet."

"We'll find out soon," Jessie said.

Joe held the microphone to her mouth and nodded to Mizumi. The music began playing. Soon, Joe began singing.

"_I saw him dancin' there by the record shed," _she sang in a fairly good voice, considering. "_I know he must've been about seventeen._

_The beat was goin' strong._

_Playin' my favorite sooooong._

_And next we were movin' on,_

_And he was with me._

_And next we were movin' on,_

_And he was with me._ _I love rock and roll!" _she sang/shouted as the crowd began cheering and as the music grew harder.

"_Put another dime in the jukebox baby!_ _I love rock and roll!_ _So put in another dime and dance with me."_

"Not bad," Jessie said, drinking more. "Considering she's plastered."

"I know," Christy said. She looked up at Joe and laughed. "She really seems to be having fun tonight."

Christy smiled as she watched Joe dance and sing, and the crowd cheer as they really get into it. "It'd good to see her happy. It's good to see any of us happy, honestly."

"And tonight we are," Jessie said, holding her bottle of beer up. Christy lifted her glass of Mountain Dew up and gently hit her glass against Jessie's. The two girls smiled and took a drink before turning back to watch Joe.

When Joe got off of the stage when she was done, she walked over, laughing. "I didn't think I'd be able to pull that song off, but the crowd really seemed to enjoy it."

"They also enjoyed watching Kakashi take his vest, shirt and pants off," Jessie said. She smiled. "But you did a good job, seeing as you've drank eighteen bottles of that beer."

"Going on nineteen," Joe said, hitting fists with Jessie. She grabbed her beer and finished it off. "Another one, Sessho," she said to the bartender. She grabbed her video camera. "I'm gonna go look around."

"See ya, girl," Christy said and watched as Joe walked away. She shook her head. "How do you two drink?" she asked. "This is Joe's first time drinking, and she's drinking more than most adualts!"

Jessie shrugged. "You get used to it," she said. "Like Kakashi said, it releaves stress."

Christy heard footsteps and turned her head. She saw Joe walking over. She was about to say something, when she saw Joe sit on her stool and set her camera down on the counter. She began pounding her head against her arm, which she had pulled up under her head.

"Joe!" Christy exclaimed. "What are you doing that for?"

Joe stopped. "Give me one good reason not to commit suicide this very second."

"Because you have to get sober before you die," Jessie said. "Now what's going on?"

"I've witnessed, and taped on my video camera, a crime, a serious crime," Joe muttered in a muffled voice.

"Cool," Jessie said, intrested. "What kind?"

Joe lifted her head and looked at Jessie and Christy. They were both surprised at the disgust and shock in her eyes. "The abusive kind," Joe said. "Abusive to me."

"What happened?" Christy pressed on.

"I saw Kakashi-sensei with that strange woman," Joe said.

"No duh," Jessie said. "They said they had to talk."

Joe drummed her fingers against the counter, looking impatient now as well. "Oh yeah. Apparently thirty-two taquiella shots puts a woman in the mood to talk, as do eight pints of beer filling a man who can't even hold one pint well."

"What do you mean?" Christy asked, still confused.

Joe sighed. "How well do I have to explain this? Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Let me see the video," Jessie said.

Joe frowned, drumming her fingers even more. "Are you ready for a Rated X movie?"

"Rated—" Jessie began. All of a sudden, she turned green. She spun around and darted to the bathroom, preparing to vomit.

Joe suddenly ran after her, looking the same way. Christy was giving a twisted expression, feeling sick herself. "At least I'm not filled with about six gallons of beer," she said, taking a drink of Mountain Dew. "It looks like the bet ended in a tie."

It was nearly an hour later before Jessie and Joe reappeared from the bathroom. Both were very pale and looking sick. They walked over to the counter and both ordered another beer, chugging them down at the rate of elephants.

"All right!" Christy yelled, pulling out her cell phone. "That is it! I have had it!"

_**Twenty minutes later…**_

Tsunade, Anko and Gaara walked through the doors of the bar. They began looking around the room just as Christy saw them. She waved when she saw them. "Over here!" she yelled.

The three walked over, all looking confused. "Why have you brought us here?" Tsunade demanded.

Christy looked at Tsunade. "One of your top ninjas had sex with some random female ninja tonight." Tsunade gasped, her eyes huge. Christy looked at Gaara. "You're girlfriend's completely wasted and is throwing up as we speak."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "I'll kill her."

Christy looked up at Anko. "And your top student is even more wasted than Jessie, which is saying a lot. The two are throwing up in the bathroom. She's also got a lot of X-rated footage on her camera."

Anko slapped her hand to her eyes. "This is why I never gave Joe anything to drink."

"I'm going to kill Kakashi!" Tsunade said, her face a dark shade of red."

There was a loud slam and Joe and Jessie stumbled out of the bathroom, both whiter than white. Their eyes widened when they saw Tsunade, Gaara and Anko.

"How'd you know where we were?" Joe exclaimed.

"Luckily for us," Tsunade said, trying to keep her cool. "Christy called us."

"Uh, Gaara," Jessie said nervously, sweating even harder than normal when she was drunk.

Gaara's eyes were narrowed to slits. "The Chunin Exams are four days away and you choose to go out and get DRUNK?! You know the rule that you're not allowed to have more than two beers before any big event. AND NO DRINKING CONTESTS EITHER!" he yelled, making everyone flinch, even Tsunade.

Jessie pointed at a room to the back. "Blame K-Kakashi for bringing us here."

"Don't worry," Tsunade said. "I'll deal with Kakashi. Gaara, get her out of here. Anko, get Joe out and wet. She's had the most to drink, apparently."

"Right," Anko and Gaara said, each dragging (litrally in Jessie's case) their captive out of the bar.

Tsunade looked at Christy and sighed. "Thank you for notifying us about this. We just avoided a natural disaster."

"No problem," Christy said. "I've had about fifty Mountain Dews by now, so I'm really tired."

Tsunade nodded. "Just so you know, since you seem to be the only sober person here, I'm going to relieve Kakashi of his duty as your teacher until this mixer is over. Kurenai will be taking his place since she has no students, even though she came in and got drunk tonight as well. At least she left several hours ago."

Christy hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, ma'am," she said. "I understand."

Tsunade shook her head. "Well, head on home to your apartment, Christy. I'm sure Shikamaru will be worried as to where you are."

"Yeah," Christy said, nodding. She stood up and walked out of the bar, relieved that at last, this nightmare of a night was over.

AN: All right, now what do you think of my chapter:: tiger ears perk up:: I realize that that part about Kakashi and the strange ninja is kind of gross, but heck, he's drunk ::ducks kunais:: Don't kill me, fangirls! It could happen ::perks up again:: Anyway, I have no idea what brought this idea on into my head, but it was fun, and funny. Well, I'll update soon. ::tiger ears lay back and eyes narrow mischeviously:: Oh the story is over half-done, and soon the Chunin Exams will begin. Then, the sequal comes out. At this point, there are thirty chapters to this story, but who knows? That may lengthen or shorten. R&R.


	19. What It Takes

A/N: Okay, this chapter is the shortest yet, but it's more of a preperation chapter and a point to prove how commited Anko and her temporary squad are. Yeah, and sorry about missing chapter seventeen. i cant find it on here. i must have forgotten it.

Chapter Nineteen: What It Takes

Andrew fell to his hands and knees and blood splattered out from his mouth all over the sand. He began coughing hard, more and more blood coming out each time.

"Andrew!" Kyler and Timmy yelled in a panic.

Anko narrowed her eyes as she looked down at Andrew. "Pathetic," she grunted.

Kyler and Timmy glared up at Anko. "Hey! He isn't used to your tough training."

"If he wants to make it as a ninja, he'll have to have a lot more than those small attacks," Anko snapped. "You wanted to beat Joe, Jessie and Christy? Well you're all going to have to step it up a notch." Anko walked beside Andrew, who hadn't moved, and knelt down beside him with her arms rested on her legs and so that she was close enough so that he could hear her. "Andrew, if you're serious about becoming a Shinobi, then you're going to have to wake up and realize that your playground tricks aren't gonna work here. Joe's a master at taijutsu! Jessie's got incredible genjutsu abilities! And Christy's a master at defense! They're all a major threat to your team! What do you have to offer?"

"Does she realize that she's talking about one of her students?" Timmy asked curiously.

Anko glared up at Timmy and Kyler, who were standing up together. "This goes for you two as well."

"!" all three kids thought.

Anko's eyes blazed. "I don't care if Joe is my student, or if you two are my students. I would say this to any Genin, or Chunin for that matter. Kyler, you've got strength second to none. Timmy, you have a tallent for fire, and yet you have no concept of how to use it properly. You both get cocky and think that you're already on top of the world just because you have these abilties. Well, you need to wake up, because the others, not just Christy, Joe and Jessie, but all of the others, have already realized this and have begun to hone their abilties."

Anko stood up and glared at the three students as Timmy and Kyler helped Andrew to his feet. "You three all have amazing tallents, but without learning to use them for the sake of defending your Village, not just parading around and bragging, you'll never be nothing but a burden to your Village," she snapped. Her gaze hardened, and her voice stayed firm, but sincere. "You three could make amazing ninja, some of the best this Village has ever seen. And in the two weeks that is left of this Mixer, I will do everything in my power to make sure that you are ready to face Kakashi's squad in the Chunin Exams."

Timmy, Kyler and Andrew looked at one another, then at Anko. Andrew whiped the blood off of the side of his face and nodded. "Then let's go," he said.

Anko smirked. "All right, boys," she said. "Get ready for some serious training."


	20. Almost Time

Chapter Nineteen: Almost Time

**Middle of wilderness in Sunagakure**

Three people walked through the desert, black capes on all of them with their hoods on over their heads. They were walking when one of them stopped, turning their head. "From the right!" she yelled, jumping up and thrusting her hand forward. A blast of wind like a blade blew from her hand, hitting a puddle of water on the ground.

As the wind hit the puddle, there was a loud shriek of pain and anger. The wind spiralled up and took on the form of a human. It was a woman in a Chunin vest with long black hair and a Sand Village headband around her waist. She was holding her right shoulder with her left hand, panting as blood streamed from her shoulder.

As the girl landed on the ground, her hood came off of her head, a trail of long strawberry blonde hair falling down her back, revealing the white face and emerald eyes of the terror and nuisance of Sungakure.

"Watch out, Chris!" one of the hooded girls yelled. "Behind you!"

The third girl spun around and jumped back in the air as a swarm of kunais came flying at her, barely missing her. Her hood came flying off her head and revealed a long stream of light brown hair and a girl with pale skin and brown eyes. She held her hands up in the air, moving them in a circle, then clasping her hands together as metal figures appeared between them. There was a bright flash of light, then when it died away, the male attacker lay on the ground unconcious, Chris at his side.

Chris smiled at the girl who had warned her. "Thanks for the warning, Krystal."

The third girl pulled her hood off her head and smiled as her long brown hair came trailing down her back. "No problem."

Jessie chuckled as she walked up beside her friends. "No wonder Gaara sent us out here two days before the Chunin Exams. He wanted us to get some real practice in first."

Gaara smirked as he looked down into his third eye. "Amusing as ever," he said. He looked up from his desk at Temari and Kankurou, who were standing there, Temari with her arms folded and Kankurou with his hands dug deep in his pockets. Gaara nodded. "They'll do."

Team 5 Training Grounds Two Days Earlier 

Kyler fell to his knees, blood splurting out of his mouth and all over the grass in front of him. He coughed hard, Joe and Dewie landing on the ground about thirty yards away, both of them panting as well. Joe was covered in sweat and Dewie was panting. Joe slowly bent down on one knee, panting hard while Dewie laid down, both taking a rest.

Timmy stared wide-eyed at them. "I don't believe it," he said. "Joe, you just about killed him!"

Joe coughed hard and blood came splattering out all over the grass in front of her. She covered her mouth with her hand and continued coughing. When she pulled her hand away, it was covered in blood. She sighed and looked up at Timmy. "Hopefuly we can do that good at the Chunin Exams."

Anko nodded. "Very good, kids. It's time you went home and rested for a few hours. We leave at dawn tomorrow."

Team 6 Training Grounds, Same Time as Team 5 

Almost thirty kunais and shuriken fell to the ground at Christy's feet, none of them reaching within a foot of her as she stood up. She was panting hard, as was Matt as they lowered their heads in defeat.

"I'm done," Matt said. "Three hours. I don't know how you keep that up, Christy."

Iruka chuckled. "Her offensive moves may be at the mercy of Providence, but when it comes to her chakra mantinance and control, she surpasses you and Andrew with flying colors."

Christy beamed, sweat pouring down her face.

Andrew scowled. "Don't rub it in."

Iruka nodded. "We've been at this for six hours now. I'm sure you'll all do fine in the Chunin Exams the day after tomorrow."

Team 9_** Training Grounds**_, Same Time 

Alex and Jordan both fell to their knees, blood spilling out all over their bodies. Greg stood there, his hands and ribs covered in blood, but he was still standing. He dropped the weapons he was holding and let them fall to the ground. They were all panting hard, sweat covering them all.

Ibiki had to smile in amusement as he stared at his students. Alex's hands were pierced from where kunais had flown right into his hand, cutting deeply. Jordan's hands were burnt from fire, and his jacket was torn and ripped. Four hours and these Genin had proven their courage and determination for the Chunin Exams that would finally take place the day after tomorrow.

Ibiki smiled at his students. "You're ready."

The three kids smiled up at him, a new, strong light in their eyes. They were ready.


	21. First Exam in the Sand

A/N: Okay, I realize that in this chapter, I made up a Village called the Shadow Village, but I needed another Village and I couldn't think of an eighth Village that Konoha and Sand are allies with so, happy readings! Oh, and the thing about my sleeping habbits is sadly, but very much true.

Chapter Twenty: The First Exam in the Sand

Joe walked in front of Timmy and Kyler as she walked up the stairway that led to a hallway of rooms. She saw the number of the room they wanted over a door at the end of the hallway. She turned to her teammates. "Ready, guys?" she asked.

"Never been more ready," Timmy said confidently.

"Let's go," Kyler said, nodding just as determinedly.

Joe nodded. "Then the Chunin Exams will officially begin."

Joe led the way down the hallway and right through the double doors. As they stepped into the room, Joe felt no surprise when she saw over a hundred ninja standing in the room, staring at them. However, she felt and heard Timmy and Kyler gasp from beside her, obviously not expecting this many ninja. Joe recognized the headbands of Leaf Village, Sand Village, Rain Village, Grass Village, Waterfall Village and there was one that she didn't recognize. The headbands had a symbol engraved into it, a symbol of a pool of water.

"Team 5!" a voice yelled.

Joe turned her head and smiled when she saw Team Baki, Team 12, Team 8, Team 9 and Team 6 standing in a group. She walked over with Timmy and Kyler and stood beside them.

"Hey," she said. "You guys just get here?"

"All of us except for Teams Baki and 12," Christy said.

"We were ordered to get here before the other Villages since we're the host Village for the Exams this year," Gaara explained.

Joe yawned. "Man," she moaned. "It is way to early to be up."

Kankurou raised an eyebrow in surprise. "It's like ten in the morning."

"So?" Joe yawned again.

Shino smiled. "Kankurou, this is a girl who will sleep from ten at night until three the next afternoon without any problems."

Kankurou rolled his eyes. "You Leaf Village ninja are so loud and lazy."

Joe suddenly appeared in Kankurou's face, holding his shirt collar in one hand with a fist held back, her eyes narrowed. "Care to repeat that?"

Christy laughed nervously. "That's Joe for you: offended at everything and always very belligerent when she's tired."

Joe smiled and stepped away. "It's just who I am."

"Hey, guys," a voice said as Teams 10 and Gai walked up, TenTen smiling at the group. "You all ready this year?" she asked.

"You bet," Ino said brightly. "There's no way we're going to lose this year."

"Hey, Ino," Andrew said. "Where's Shikamaru?" Sakura was standing in Shikamaru's stead this year.

Ino shrugged. "I dunno. I think he's helping out in the second Exam, or something."

Christy nodded. "Yeah. He's doing something with them, though he wasn't thrilled about it at all. He said it was too much work."

"Now he's lazy," Kankurou said, and he looked at Joe. "And you can't get offended with that."

Joe held her hands up in defense. "I ain't on that one," she agreed.

"All right, everyone," a voice said. Joe turned her head and saw a tall man standing in the center of the room. He had a Sand Village headband around his forehead, and he wore a Chunin/Jounin vest. "Get together, because it's time for the Chunin Exams to start. As of now, you're officially in the First Exam."

"Yeah!" several voices yelled out.

"All right," the Sand Village Jounin said as he faced the Genin in the gym. "This first Exam will be a test of your ability to work as a team. You, as three-man cells, will be fighting another three-man cell. We will cut the room into four groups. Rain ninja will fight Leaf ninja, Grass ninja will fight Sand ninja, Waterfall ninja will fight Shadow ninja. After that, the winning teams will move onto the next round. This Exam's purpose is to learn to work as a team. Out in the world of Shinobi, you cannot survive without learning teamwork. You may not like the people you working with, and they may not like you, but to survive in the ninja world, you must learn to rely on one another's abilities and techniques."

"Sweet," Timmy said. "I've been itching to get my techniques out this morning."

Joe yawned loudly, feeling a rush of sleepiness in her again, and then scowled in annoyance as she watched the Sand Jounin. "Hopefuly this fight against the Rain ninja will get me moving enough to wake me up." She heard her teammates mutter in agreement as they watched the proctor for the Exam.

As the Villages split up into four groups, and the groups other than Leaf Village and Rain Village left the room, the head proctor said, "Follow me."

Joe and the other Leaf ninja followed the proctor down the hallway and into another room, which looked more like a battlefield. There were seven teams from each Village, all looking energized and excited to go, all but Joe, even though she had a determined/tired look in her eyes. Inside, she was wondering why they couldn't have started the Exams at two in the afternoon.

The proctor held up a clipboard and said. "All right. The first two teams to fight will be Hyuga Neji, TenTen and Rock Lee from the Leaf Village, and the Sonin brothers from the Rain Village."

Joe saw three identical triplets wearing black and white robes and their headbands around their foreheads. The only differences she could see were their eyes. One had green eyes, one had brown eyes, and the third had blue eyes. They all had short black and the same outfits.

"All right," Neji said. "Let's get this over with."

As the two teams got out onto the battlefield and faced one another, Joe saw TenTen reach for two scrolls, and Lee and Neji flexed their hands, clearly ready to get going and win this round. Joe smirked, having no doubt in her mind that they could easily beat these Rain Village ninja. She had trained with them, hard and vigorously for the past four months, and knew their strengths. She knew of very few people who could beat them, and now they were even stronger than before, thanks to the Mixer and going on the journey to find Naruto and Sasuke. Lee had been back from his part in the mission for about a week, and he and Neji, after their surgeries, may not be in the best shape ever, but they were more than ready to take these guys down.

"Come on, TenTen, Lee and Neji," Joe muttered. "I know you can beat these whimps. Even if they are from Rain Village and look tough and like they have more experience, I know you three, and you can crush them with your eyes closed."

"What?" Kyler asked, clearly having heard her speak.

Joe shook her head, not meaning to have been overheard. "It's nothing. I'm just thinking to myself outloud." Kyler shrugged it off, looking back at the field.

The proctor held his hand up. "Begin."

As Joe had suspected, they easily breezed through the fight. Lee and Neji took some wounds, but it was the Rain ninja who ended up with the majority of the wounds. They had relied on their genjutsu, which Neji could see right through, and TenTen could fight all of at once. With the three able to fight their way out of the genjutsu, the Rain brothers had been left with no attacks, and little defense.

The next battle was Sakura, Ino and Choji versus a Rain Village team. This one was a little more complicated. Choji got hurt in the stomach and Sakura had to quickly supply him with military ration pellets and quick first aid before returning to the battle. However, they still won pretty easily.

Then came Team 8's battle. Hinata quickly helped win by using her sixty-four points taijutsu on the strongest of the three kunoichis they fought. Then Kiba and Akamaru, with some help from Shino's bugs, quickly finished off the other two kunoichis.

Then Team 6 breezed through their battle, making it seem as though the Rain ninja were very weak. Matt used wind and water ninjutsu, and Andrew used earthstyle ninjutsus to attack the enemy ninja. What Joe was most surprised at was the fact that Christy hung back and did nothing for her team. She stood and watched. Joe wondered why, since she knew that Christy could use ninjutsu and genjutsu. She found it very odd and wondered if Christy had frozen, or if she had some ace card up her sleeve and knew that her teammates could take the Rain ninja on alone.

Noe Team 9 was fighting. Greg was fighting a kunoichi with his weapon attacks, Alex was fighting a male ninja with his basic taijutsu and replacement jutsu attacks, and Jordan was fighting a second male ninja with his big shuriken that he and Greg had apparently gotten on loan from TenTen. She had pointed out that fact about half-way through their battle, after bringing out some surprisingly good attacks that even surprised Neji and Lee, considering who it was throwing them. Of all the teams, Team 9 had shown the least promise, but they had guts and courage. Everyone had to respect them for that. They were all hanging in just as strongly as the rest of the kids, and Joe had to admire that in them. They all seemed determined to stick it out and to make it through the Chunin Exams.

Finally, it was Team 5's turn, along with the final team from the Rain ninja. As Joe walked onto the field with her teammates, she felt a rush of energy and excitement flow through her. She felt the anticipation and the thrill that she was actually in the Chunin Exams. After all those years of dreaming, of thinking how cool it would be to be a ninja, she felt the exhileration that it was actually real now. Being here, now, in the Chunin Exams, proved just how far she and her friends had come, how they were really part of this world as Shinobi. And for that, Joe had no intention of losing now.

She narrowed her eyes. _I have a goal to aim for now, _she thought to herself._ I have a Shinobi path I have to stick to, no matter what._

As Ino watched Joe walk onto the field, she couldn't help but remember talking to Joe just a few days ago. She saw the determination in Joe's blue-grey eyes and felt a shiver run up her spine, the same feeling that she had felt when Joe first told her about her dream, her ultimate dream.

Ino walked up behind Joe as she stood on the edge of a cliff, staring at the Sand Village sunset as it glowed brilliantly off of the golden brown sand.

"_Why do you want so badly to go through this Chunin Exam only four months after coming?" she asked. "Why don't you guys wait until the next one? I mean, sure Shikamaru graduated earlier than most, but I honestly think that you and your team, and the other rookie teams, should wait a while."_

_Joe shook her head. "I have a goal, Ino, one that I need to fulfill, or I'll feel as though I'm being consumed by a bank of darkness."_

"_What do you mean?" Ino asked, not understanding what Joe was saying at all._

_Joe lifted her head, and as Joe took a step to the side, Ino saw a look of determination and hope in her eyes, one that sent a chill through her spine. As she stared at the sun ahead, Joe said determinedly, "I never thought I'd ever come here. And now that I'm here with Dewie, I don't intend to live my life a useless burden, just sitting around and growing fat and lazy. I intend to live my life out as a Shinobi, the strongest Shinobi I can become. My dream is to become so strong that I can be used by Konoha, used for protection and for the benefit of the country. No matter where I am, no matter what I do, I want to always be a friend of Konoha, and to become so strong that wherever I am, and no matter what happens to me, that I can become someone people respect and desire as a friend and teammate. I want to become someone that everyone will be proud of, and happy to stand by in battle, in the good times and the bad, where they can trust me to do what's right, and where I can trust myself to help the weaker, and still remain trustworthy and independent of mind." She smiled back at Ino, a look of brightness and hope in her eyes that made Ino smile. "That's my dream, Ino, and I'm going to work my entire life, if that's what it takes, to fulfill it."_

Ino smiled as she watched Joe and the determined look in her eye. _That's right,_ she thought. _I admire the fact that you have that dream, Joe, and I know you'll someday make it come true. So go for it. Just reach out and take it._

Joe stared at her teammates and smiled. "You ready?"

Timmy held his hands out to the side and fire errupted around them. "You betcha," he laughed, his eyes dancing with amusement and excitement at the thought of what was about to come in their battle.

Kyler popped his knuckles, smirking. "Bring it on," he said, baring the same look in his eyes as Timmy.

Joe turned around and smirked when she saw the nervous look on the other team's face. "Let's do this," she said. "They won't know what hit 'em."


	22. The Second Exam

Chapter Twenty-one: The Second Exam

The Leaf Village groups headed back to the first room, Ino saw several Sand Village teams head back with some Grass Village teams. She smiled when she saw Gaara's team and Jessie's team among them.

"You guys won your battles?" Joe asked from beside Ino, clearly having seen them as well and judging by the sound and tone of her voice, Ino could tell that she was just as amused as Ino was herself.

Jessie held her hands out and smirked. "Of course," she said, just as cockily as normal. "What else did you expect? The Sand ninja are hosting this year, and there's no way on earth we'd let any of you guys get past us."

"Oh, we'll see about that," Christy teased. Ino looked back and saw the same light of amusement in Joe's eyes dancing in the short kunoichi's eyes.

Jessie teasingly shoved Christy in the shoulder as they walked back to the origonal room.

"You guys all won, then, too?" Kankurou asked.

"Pssh!" Kiba laughed. "Easily. Those Rain ninja were weaklings. We all made it out of there with no problem."

"Good," Temari said, nodding and smiling at the group. "I'm looking forward to facing against you guys and kicking your butts."

The group all burst into laughter as Joe ran over and teasingly had a punching sparr with Temari. Everyone was laughing except for Gaara, who carried the same, serious look on his face that he always did. It annoyed Ino that he never smiled or lightened up.

_He is such a grumpy puss,_ she thought in annoyance as she looked at him.

"Come on," he said as they walked into the room.

"All right," a woman from the Sand Village said as the Genin entered the room. While there had been nearly fifty Sand Jounin and Chunin in the room before, now it was just her and the Genin. "Follow me. It's time for the second Exam."

The group followed her down out of the building and over to a large, caged area that had ten black stall-like stands set up that no one could see into. Ino looked around and saw Jounin standing all around it, and one Jounin standing in front of each stall door.

"All right," the woman proctor said. "This Exam won't be like the last one. You won't be fighting, and you certainly won't have your teammates there to cradle you babies and help you out. This will be a mental test, a vigorous test that most of you probably won't survive. And if even one of you doesn't make it through, your entire team will be dropped from the Chunin Exams automatically."

"What?" Ino exclaimed in disbelief.

There were several yells of disbelief and anger that backed Ino's up.

"Hey!" the proctor yelled, and the noise quieted down. She glared at them. "If you don't like the way this Exam is set up, then leave. If you're worried about letting your teammates down, leave like the little whimps you are."

Several teams turned and left, refusing to take part in the Exam, but there was still a large number of teams there.

The proctor scoffed. "You who are here are foolish, but brave. I'll give you that. There are now fourty-two Genin here. That's fourteen teams. My guess is that only eight of you will make it past here, if that."

There were several gasps of surprise, and Ino wondered what kind of mental test could only allow that many people to pass.

"All right," the proctor said. "Let's go. I want ten people to come forward at a time. You will be tested and then led away to recover so that you can't give away the secrets to this test."

Ino walked up reluctantly as one of ten people. Jessie, Gaara, Joe and six other people from other Villages walked up. She walked up to a proctor and looked at him. He nodded to the stall. "Walk into there. I won't be far behind you."

As he opened the full-sized black door, Ino walked in and saw a red field ahead of her. Her eyes widened when she saw the field, so wide that she like her eyes were going to pop out. She saw several people lying on the ground, face-up. Sakura, Choji, Shikamaru, Kyler, Joe, Christy, and her mom and dad lay on the ground, all bleeding to death and staring up, their eyes lifeless.

Kyler turned over, the only body moving. "Ino!" he rasped, coughing up blood. "Help me! Don't let me die!"

"Kyler!" Ino yelled, wanting to move forward. But she couldn't. She was frozen in place. She looked around and saw that there was no door. There was no black room. She felt as though her body had frozen in place. She looked back at Kyler and could barely stand to watch him. But when she tried to move and couldn't move her feet, she suddenly realized what was going on.

Ino narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe this," she said. "If I can't move, I must be in a dream. This must be some genjutsu." She held her hands together. "Kai! Release!"

All of a sudden, the vision began to disappear, and Ino felt as though all of the energy had rushed from her body. She saw that she was in a black room, surrounded by four black walls with jutsu seals on them.

All of a sudden, the door at the back of the stall opened, and a Sand ninja stood there. She held her hand out and smiled. "Congratulations," she said. "You passed. Come on."

Ino took her hand and followed her out of the stall. The Sand ninja closed it behind her, and she smiled at Ino. "That was quicker than most. Only two people came out ahead of you."

Ino looked up and saw Gaara and Jessie sitting on a bench, both sweating hard. They looked up at Ino and Jessie said, "Ino, are you all right?"

Ino nodded, still feeling almost too breathless to talk. "Yeah," she said. "I passed."

Jessie nodded. "Us, too. Apparently Gaara knew instantly what was wrong."

"Not instantly," Gaara said. "But quickly, yes."

Ino suddenly heard a door open and loud panting. She turned around to see Joe being led out of one of the stalls. Her eyes were huge and she was covered in sweat. The Shinobi with her led her over and she fell to her knees, her eyes huge and horrified.

"Joe!" Ino exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

Joe opened her mouth, but couldn't speak. It was clear to Ino that the affect on Joe had been twice as bad as the affect on her.

"Joe, did you pass?" Jessie asked worriedly.

Joe nodded, but didn't say anything. Ino and Jessie sighed in relief. Ino looked up. "It seems to me like they played our worst fear on us to see if we could tell if it was just genjutsu. If we could undo it, then passed."

"I hope Lee can get through," Jessie said, a serious look on her face.

Ino realized with a jolt that Jessie was right. Lee had practically no genjutsu or ninjutsu abilities. He may not be able to get through without those abilties.

"You don't have to worry about that," Gaara said simply. He nodded behind Ino.

Ino turned around and saw Neji and Lee walk out of two of the stalls, both looking shocked to say the least.

"Lee!" Ino exclaimed. "How did you get through and pass?"

Lee looked her. "I have _very little_ genjutsu abilities. That doesn't mean I have _none_ and can't recognize them."

Neji nodded. "It was simple to realize that it was genjutsu."

Ino nodded. "It took me a little while, but I figured it out easily enough."

"Same here," Jessie said.

Lee frowned down at Joe. "Hey, Joe, are you all right?"

As if an answer, Joe suddenly threw up all over the grass.

"Ohhh!" the kids groaned as they backed away. Joe leaned over, her hands pressed against her stomach and her eyes still huge.

"Joe, what'd you see?" Ino asked worriedly.

"Those people," Joe whispered. "All those people. And that demon…" She shuddered and looked up at Ino. "It felt worse than some genjutsu. It felt a lot worse." She shuddred and then threw up again.

"Ohh!" Ino groaned, backing up even more. "Can you talk without throwing up?"

Joe turned to one of the Sand Shinobi, who was watching her. "What'd you use on me?" she asked.

The shinobi looked confused. "We set it up so that everyone experienced their worst fear, and of their friends and teammates dying. Isn't that what happened to you?"

Joe shook her head. "No," she whispered. "I walked in and I saw people all over the place, dead. At first, I saw my friend's faces. Then I saw that…" She shuddered, his face very pale.

"What?" the Sand ninja asked worriedly.

"It was those eyes," Joe whispered. "They were green, green like hatred and demonic. People dropped dead all over, and then I felt as though my entire body were being consumed in pain. It was a mixture of pain, horror, fear, sadness, and death."

"No wonder she's sick," Neji said, his eyes narrowed. He used his Byakugan and stared at her. "Her heart's racing," he said worriedly.

"Come with me," the Shinobi said. When Joe hesitated, he said, "Don't worry, you won't be disqualified."

Joe then nodded and followed the Shinobi away.

Ino waited as the rest of the main teams walked through, though her mind was still with Joe. What had she really seen? What kind of pain could have made her react that way?

A/N: Okay, that dream actually has something to do with the second part to this story, which'll come out soon enough. So, ttyl. Keep updated for the next chapter, the Third Exam.


	23. The Real Third Exam

Chapter Twenty-three: The Real Third Exam

"What?!" Kyler exclaimed. "We're doing _another_ fighting exam? We just got out of the last exam!"

Somah nodded, her hands behind her back. "Yes. Like the firstexam, you will be fighting. Only this exam has a different purpose and method to it. Your firstexam was used to show you teamwork. Without teamwork, you cannot succeed. But you all must also need to learn what you can do on your own, and learn your own strengths. That's what this exam is about. This will also let your teammates observe your techniques and strengths. You will fight one-on-one, and no longer must you all compete. Instead, you can drop out if you think necessary. So, will anyone drop out?"

Silence. There wasn't a single comment or hand raised.

Somah smiled and nodded. "Good. Now, go upstairs and wait for the first set of names. They will be picked at random from a computer and posted on the board."

Joe smiled as she and her friends walked up the stairs that led to an upper level that overlooked the battlefield. "I wonder who will be the first pair," she said.

"I don't know," Shino said as Team 8 stood with Team 5.

Joe had moved in with the Aburames two weeks ago, and was never happier. It was the first time since she had gotten here that she'd felt accepted and in a real home. They'd even agreed to letting her take on their last name. Dewie was still a little scared of Shino's dad, but he was getting used to him. As much as Dewie wanted to come, Joe had told him that she couldn't bring him this time because she'd made a deal with Kiba to leave the dogs behind so that everyone would be on equal footing for the exams.

"All right!" Somah said into a microphone headset. "The first round's set has been determined."

Joe suddenly heard a gasp. "Joe!" Kiba gasped.

Joe turned her head and her eyes widened when she saw the results.

Kyler vs. Aburame Joe.

"No way," Christy said, her eyes huge as she stared at the board. Shikamaru had come to watch the exams since Christy was in it, and was standing with Team 9, Sakura, Ino and Choji, all of whom were staring wide-eyed.

Joe turned her head and saw Kyler staring at her. Joe swallowed hard. They had just started getting along again, and now they were to fight one another in the first round?

"Would the participants please come down?" Somah said.

Joe and Kyler paused, then both walked down and stood about twenty feet apart on the field, Somah standing to the side.

"Begin!" Somah said.

Joe stared at Kyler. "I'm sorry about this, Kyler," she said sincerely.

Kyler nodded. "So am I," he said. He held one had forward toward her and stood sideways. "Bring everything you've got."

Joe nodded. "All right then," she said. She knelt down and pulled her legwarmers down. She pulled her legweights off and threw them at a wall unoccupied by people. There was a loud blast of smoke and when it cleared away, there was a large hole in the wall.

Gaara covered his eyes with a hand. "Why can't they leave our gym in one piece?" Team Baki was standing next to Team 12.

"I've got the feeling they've only begun," Jessie said, lifting her head as she overlooked the field, her arms folded.

Gaara groaned.

Kyler narrowed her eyes. _If she's taking those off, then she's come to win,_ he thought. He knew he'd have to step it up a notch. Kyler rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and clenched his fists, knowing what to do.

"This isn't good," Timmy said.

"'What do you mean?" Kiba asked.

Timmy frowned, narrowing his eyes as he clenched the rail in front of him. "Kyler's got incredible strength second to none, and Joe's one of the fastest people I know, and without the legweights she's like lightening. Those two combined will surely give us a surprising and probably amazing battle."

"Hmm," Shino said, nodding.

Joe suddenly took a step forward, then seemed to disappear. Dust began to pick up around Kyler as Joe ran around like light around him. He turned his head to try and find her and suddenly got nailed in the face with her foot as she leapt forward, sending him flying.

Lee smirked as he watched his friend. "Go, Joe," he whispered.

Joe's eyes narrowed as she stood up straight. She watched Kyler struggle to get to his feet. _Come on, Kyler,_ she thought in agrivation. _I know you've got more than this._

Ino shook with anger. "Come on, Kyler!" she yelled, gripping the rail.

Kyler lifted his head and looked up at Ino. He smiled and whiped the back of his hand against the corner of his mouth, whiping the blood away. He looked up at Joe and narrowed his eyes. "You want to play hardball," he said, raising a hand and clutching his fists. "Then bring it on!" he yelled, bringing his fist down hard on the ground.

The ground began to rumble and shake as it began cracking, heading straight for Joe. Joe jumped up high and landed on the rail to the upstairs. She then jumped into the arena and disappeared.

Kyler spun around, trying to figure out where she was, then suddenly heard, "Behind you."

Kyler didn't have time to turn his head or respond at all. He felt a foot hit him square in the back and sent him flying. As he came down toward the ground, Kyler dug his hand into the ground, grabbing it as it ripped back as he came to a stop.

As the fight continued, Gaara groaned. "Why do I get the feeling this is nowhere near over?"

"They're just getting warmed up," Lee said, his team standing with Team 2.

Joe held her arms crossed, then flung them to the side, sending the wraps around her arms flying out at Kyler. They wrapped around him and just as Joe was about to reel him in, Kyler thrust his arms out to the side, breaking through the wraps.

"No way!" Lee exclaimed, his eyes huge.

Gai frowned. _This is something,_ he thought. _No one has ever broken through the wraps used for the lotus blossom._

Neji narrowed his eyes. _Come on,_ he thought to himself. _You've got more than this, Aburame._

Joe smirked and closed her eyes. _Sorry, Gai-sensei,_ she thought. _I'm going to have to break your first rule._

Kyler frowned as he watched Joe place her hands one on top of the other on the ground. His eyes widened as rocks suddenly began rising off the ground.

"No way!" Lee exclaimed again, his eyes even wider. "Is she…"

"Gai-sensei," Neji said, his eyes narrowed as he looked up at Gai. "She wouldn't use _that_ here, not after only having completed it once, would she?"

Gai narrowed his eyes. "I wouldn't have thought so, but I've learned not to put anything past Joe. I'll kill her tomorrow if she does."

Kyler frowned as more rocks began rising and Joe's hair even began lifting slightly, as though wind were blowing from up.

"If you wanted an easy win out of this battle," Joe said calmly. She lifted her head and Kyler's eyes widened when he saw that her skin was no red. "YOU WERE SADLY MISTAKEN!" she yelled as a huge wage of rocks blasted up from her hands on the ground, like a tidle wave.

"Kyler!" Christy yelled in surprise.

"She's opened the first two of the inner gates," Kakashi said in surprise. "But unlike Lee, she channels it to her own advantage, not just for the lotus blosson or reverse lotus."

"Even _I_ didn't know about this move!" Timmy exclaimed.

"…!" Shino said.

Kyler held his hands up in defense, but it was too late. The rocks came so fast and strong, they hit Kyler hard and sent him flying up against the wall, pinning him to the wall for several moments, until the rocks dropped to the ground. Then Kyler fell to the ground, unconcious.

"Note to self," Greg said. "_Never_ get Joe angry."

Joe was left panting and sweating, her eyes half-closed. She was shaking, but managed to push herself to her feet.

Somah frowned. _This girl's something,_ she thought. She raised a hand to Joe. "And Aburame Joe is the winner!"

As soon as Somah said that, Joe's eyes rolled back and she fell down. But just before she hit the ground, Lee appeared beneath her, catching her. A moment later, Shino, TenTen and Ino appeared on the ground. They ran over to Joe while Timmy ran over to Kyler's side.

"Dude!" Timmy exclaimed, grabbing Kyler's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Kyler's eyes opened for a moment. "How is she?"

Timmy relaxed. "She's fine."

Kyler sighed. "Then the team's fine." With that, his eyes closed and his body went limp.

"Get a medical team over here!" Timmy yelled. "NOW!"

"Right!" a person yelled as a medical squad ran over to Joe and Kyler.

As Joe was lifted up onto the stretcher, her eyes slid open.

"Joe!" Ino exclaimed happily.

Joe whispered, "How's Kyler?"

"He'll survive," Christy said smiling. She rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately."

"Kick butt, you two," Joe whispered. She looked up at Lee. "You, too."

"Right," Lee said, nodding.

Joe's eyes then rolled back.

Neji frowned as he watched the medical squads carry Kyler and Joe out. Interesting, he thought. This will help for the second round.

Shino smiled. _Good job,_ Joe, he thought. Joe had become like a little sister to him, so he was proud that she would make it to the final round.

"Finally," Gaara grunted. "They're done messing up the field."

"All right," Somah said. "Time for the next pair."

"Wonder who it will be?" Kiba said.

"L-Look!" Hinata stuttered, pointing to the board.

The group looked and were surprised again when they saw the resuls.

Christy vs. Matthew.

"What in blue blazes is going on here?!" Lee yelled. "Next thing you know, I'll be fighting TenTen or Neji!"

"Hey, they're chosen at random, so there's no one to blame," Asuma said in amusement.

Christy and Matt reluctantly made their way down to the battlefield and took their positions across from each other.

"Hmm," Iruka said, folding his arms. "This ought to be interesting."

"No kidding," Andrew said, nodding.

"What?" Jordan asked, looking at them.

"You'll see," Andrew said.

"Let the second match begin!" Somah said.

Matt held his hands together and jumped back. _Horse! Tiger!_ He yelled in his mind. "Gokyu fireball!" he yelled, holding his hands in front of his mouth and sending a small series of flames out toward Christy.

Christy held her hands up toward the fireballs and just as they were about to hit her, they exploded, flying sidways and hitting the walls. When the smoke cleared away, Shino saw with surprise a blue/purple forcefield around Christy's hands.

"You see," Iruka explained. "Of our squad, Matt has the greatest physical ability and endurance, Andrew's kind of stuck in the middle, and Christy lacks quite a bit, though she manages to keep up. However, of the squad, when it comes to chakra control and apptitude, Christy surpasses her teammates completely."

"But how is she making that forcefield?" Greg asked in confusion.

Iruka frowned. "Christy's apptitude and strength is in her defense. When it comes to offense, she struggles. However, when it comes to her defense, she's unbeatable. She uses emits certain amounts of chakra and forms it into any form she needs. By emitting larger armounts, she can almost solidify it and create a barrier or forcefield in any shape or size. It's her ultimate defense."

Matt had just thrown several more fireballs at Christy, but she'd used more forcefields to block them.

Matt landed on the ground and smirked. "Fine, if I can't reach you, I'll just have to go from more than one angle or burn all your chakra up." He held his hands together. "Kagebunshin no jutsu!" he yelled, and suddenly four shadow clones appeared.

"Not good," Christy muttered.

At once all of the clones ran straight at Christy and started throwing Shuriken and other weapons.

Christy focused all of her chakra, held one hand out behind her and in front of her and a forcefield appeared all around her right before the weapons hit her, blocking them.

Matt began doing a bunch of hand signals, and wind started picking up around them. Christy closed her eyes, continually emitting lots of chakra to hold the forcefield up.

I can't do this for much longer! She wailed in her mind. I'm running out of chakra! I have enough for one last move. Something suddenly popped into her head. That's it!

Matt stopped the wind, then began doing the signals again, only this time, just as he was about to cast the jutsu, Christy thrust her hands forward toward him and just as the wind began blowing, a forcefield shot up all around Matt, trapping it in and attacking him directly.

"Oh, I get it!" Lee exclaimed. "Christy knew she was running out of chakra, so she built a forcefield all around Matt so that his own attack would hit back at him."

Matt was screaming as the wind sliced into his skin.

"Enough!" Somah yelled. "Christy's the winner!"

Christy lowered her hands and the forcefield lowered. As the wind died, Matt fell to the ground, bleeding all over.

"Get a medical team in here now!" Somah yelled.

"Will he be okay?" Andrew asked worriedly as the medical team ran in to get Matt.

Iruka nodded. "He's not as bad off as Joe or Timmy. He'll be fine. He's got some bad cuts from the looks of it, but I'm sure he'll be fine."

Christy stood on the field, panting and shaking. She looked up at the gallery above and saw Shikamaru smiling proudly down at her. She smiled strongly back up at him, her hands having stopped shaking.

"That's right," she said. "I won. I've made it all the way through the Chunin Exams, and now I'll go to the finals."


	24. Tsunade's Temper

Chapter Twenty-three: Tsunade's temper

Joe's eyes slid open slowly. Her vision slowly went from blurry to vaguely clear. The first thing she saw was Shino standing above her with Lee and Hinata standing on the other side of the bed.

"Joe!" Lee said happily when he saw her eyes open. "You're awake!"

Joe slowly pushed herself up so that she was sitting up in bed. She pulled the oxygen mask down from her mouth and let out a sigh. "What's going on?" she asked. She noticed that Lee's right arm and shoulder was in a sling, and Hinata's left arm was in a cast. "Why are you two all bandaged up?"

Lee and Hinata smiled.

"W-we fought each other," Hinata said.

"She nearly had me, too," Lee said with a smile. "That sixty-four points jutsu is really strong, but she managed to miss one. But she completely removed my shoulder from the socket, so it'll be like this for a month, until the final rounds."

"So you won?" Joe asked.

Lee nodded. "Barely."

"I almost had him," Hinata glowed. "But then he broke my arm. But I'll be fine in a few weeks, or at least that's what Lady Tsunade said."

Joe suddenly remembered something. "Kyler! Where's Kyler?!"

"I'm over here," a groggy voice said.

Joe turned her head and saw Kyler sitting in a bed two beds over. Ino was standing next to him. Kyler was covered in cuts all over his body and had an IV sticking out of his arm.

He smiled, looking out of the loop. "You did a real number on me, Aburame. It's a good thing I don't hold grudges the way you do, like the time you smacked that Eldest book over my head."

Joe laughed nervously. "Yeah." She smiled honestly. "I'm just glad you're all right. No hard feelings?"

Kyler shook his head. "Nope," he said, his eyes closed as he smiled.

Joe looked down at the bed next to her and her eyes widened. "Matt?!" Joe looked at the bed on the other side of her and her eyes grew wider. "Neji?!" She looked up at Shino. "Did they both lose?! How could Neji lose?!"

Shino shook his head. "Matt lost to Christy, but Neji just wore himself out by using way too much chakra in his battle against Kankurou, in which he won. I won my battle against Jordan. It only took a few minutes."

Joe's eyes brightened. "Good job, nisan." Joe could tell that Shino was smiling, even if she couldn't see his eyes or his mouth. She smiled. "So, who all's gone?" she asked.

"All but two people," Ino said as she walked over. "I won in my battle against Krystal. She almost had me with her puppets. She's doing really good with them. Alex forefeighted against Gaara before the battle even began, Temari won against Choji. He's in a bed in a dfferent room, Kiba won against Timmy, barely though, Jessie beat Greg, and TenTen won against Andrew."

"That leaves Chris and Sakura," Joe said.

Ino nodded and smirked. "Yeah, and let me tell you that Sakura won't walk away from this battle victorious. I made sure of it."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked nervously.

"These past two weeks, Chris and I have been working on a special manuever that will work on anybody," Ino smirked. "A move combinging her tallents, and mine."

* * *

Anko and Gai stood behind Tsunade with their hands behind their backs as she stared out at Sunagakure from the windows in the Leaf Village's ambassador's office. "I'm under the understanding that you, Gai, have been training Joe as well as your own students," Tsunade said.

"Yes, ma'am," Gai said.

"A fact that I've ignored because she seems to have apptitude only for taijutsu, and that's what you specialize in," Tsunade said. She turned around, scowling. "Until now when I've come to find out that she's learned how to open the eight inner gates."

"Yes, ma'am," Gai said.

Tsunade looked at Anko. "Did you know about this?"

Anko nodded. "Yes, but only up to the first two gates. I've let Joe train with Gai two days out of the five we train. I've just discovered that she's reached beyond that."

"Really?" Tsunade looked from Anko to Gai with an accusing look on her face.

"Lady Tsunade," Gai began to explain. "In the same way that I've taught Lee this rare and useful skill, I taught Joe, but it wasn't until a week ago that she mastered up to the third gate. She's come to realize that these gates can be used in battle beyond the lotus blossom, and the reverse lotus, a fact that Lee and I never ventured beyond. I never dreamed that she would use the gates here. In fact, she promised me before the exams began that she wouldn't."

"SHE COULD HAVE DIED!" Tsunade yelled, making Anko and Gai flinch. Tsunade clenched her fists, which were shaking in fury. "Apart that you've managed to get that girl to where spandex, legweights and legwarmers, you're turning that girl as wreckless and abnoxious as you!"

Anko and Gai looked at one another, then Gai said slowly, "Um, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, Lady Tsunade, but we didn't have to do anything for Joe to be like that. She's naturally like that."

"BE QUIET!" Tsunade yelled.

They obeyed.

Tsunade sighed. "It's not that she isn't strong. Quite to the contrary. She's incredibly strong. But what she needs to learn is that there's a time and a place to use that strength, and destroying the gym of one of our allies, is not necessarily the best place or purpose of the Chunin Exams!" She looked from Anko to Gai and then said, "Make that clear to her."  
"Yes, ma'am," Anko and Gai said in unison.

"Then leave," Tsunade said, then added with a smile, "The Exams are almost over. You must prepare your students for the _real_ third exam."


	25. The End of The Preliminary Rounds

A/N: Yeah! As of my writing this chapter, I am done writing the first part of this series. I know it's a really weird and annoying habbit to a lot of people, but I write certain chapters in advance and then fill in the other chapters later as I go, and it's eleven thirty at night right now, so I hope this chapter isn't too terrible. This chapter is just kind of a filler chapter. And I'm sorry I didn't show the other battles, but I didn't want to reveal everyone's abilties just yet. That will happen in the final rounds.

Chapter Twenty-four: The End of The Preliminary Rounds

There was a bright flash of light and when it finally cleared away, Sakura dropped to the ground, suddenly covered in wounds that hadn't been there before the bright flash. Her back was sliced and her legs were covered in wounds and blood.

"And the winner is Chris!" Somah yelled.

As the medical corps carried Sakura away, Somah thought,_ This is a very promising young group of Genin. They all seem to be very strong and capable. If they can do this well in just the preliminary rounds, I wonder what they'll do after the break in between this and the real round._

"All right!" Somah yelled. "Would all of the winners please step forward onto the field?"

Chris, Christy, Jessie, TenTen, Gaara, Temari, Shino, Lee, Ino and Kiba walked out onto the field. Somah walked around with a box. "Each of you take a piece of paper," she said.

Each Genin obeyed and took a piece of paper. "All right," Somah said as she backed up. She grabbed a clipboard and pen and got ready to write down numbers. "Give me your numbers."

"Seven," Temari said.

"Eight," Chris said.

"Ten," Jessie said.

"One," Christy said.

"Nine," Gaara said.

"Two," Lee said.

"Three," Shino said.

"Four," Ino said.

"Five," TenTen said.

"Six," Kiba said.

"All right," Somah said, writing out the results. "And Aburame and Hyuga will be eleven and twelve." She blinked in surprise, and then turned the clipboard around. "Here is the way the final round will be matched up and in the order it will be."

1) Christy vs. Rock Lee

2) Aburame Shino vs. Yamanaka Ino

3) TenTen vs. Inuzuka Kiba

4) Temari vs. Chris

5) Gaara vs. Jessie

6) Hyuga Neji vs. Aburame Joe

Most of the group gasped at their results. Most of them were being paired up against friends and in some cases, teammates.

Gaara and Jessie stared at each other, Temari and Chris stared at each other, and Christy and Lee stared at each other, all looking thoroughly shocked.

Somah looked surprised as well. This order was so screwed up, she didn't even know what to say. All she could say is, "You have one month to recover from your present wounds, in which time the final Exam will take place in the outdoor arena, and we will move on past these currently planned battles after the first round. You may all leave no to recover, train and relax."

* * *

"WHHHAAAATTTT?!" 

Joe's voice cleared all the way across the clearing. She had just been released from the hospital, and Anko had just told her who her partner was going to be.

Joe looked desperate and confused. "But I can't fight him! He's Hyuga Neji! He's ten times stronger than me! Plus he's my teammate!"

"You fought Kyler," Anko pointed out.

Joe scowled. "But I know Kyler will forgive me. Neji won't. He'll hate me forever, esspecially if by some strange miricale I beat him."

Anko shook her head. "I know, and I wish could do something to change this, but because you weren't there to draw, you have to live with these results."

Joe sighed. "I guess I'd better train hard, then," she said. She lifted her head, her eyes filled with a new determination that replaced the desperatism and fear. "Even if I don't win, I can still have a chance at the Chunin title, and that's what I want." She turned away. "I've got a month, huh? Then I'd better start training, and training hard."

* * *

"What?" Lee exclaimed, his eyes huge. "You're going through with it?" 

Neji glared at Lee. "Well, I'm not quitting, if that's what you want."

"But she's like our teammate!" Lee exclaimed.

Neji shook his head. "I may not like it, but when we entered the Chunin Exams, we knew something like this could happen. I'm not going to kill her, because honestly, I have nothing against her. But I'm not going to give up any chances I have at becoming a Chunin just because I don't like who my opponent is."

"But–" Lee began.

"No, Lee," Gai said, shaking his head. "Neji's right. That's life. There may come a time when you have to fight people you've considered your friends and allies, and you'll need the courage to fight them for your Village and for what you believe is right."

Neji felt grateful at Gai-sensei's support in his decision, but he still secretly didn't want to go through with it. Within the last six months, he had grown a sense of loyalty to his teammates, a sense of protection and leadership responsabilities. He considered Joe a teammate, since she trained with them all of the time. But he had to fight her, if that was what it took, to get where he needed to go. He knew that she was strong, and that he'd have to start preparing immediately.

"I'm gonna go train," he said, and walked off.

* * *

A/N: Until the next chapter. 


	26. The Ultimate Offense and Defense

Chapter Twenty-four: The Ultimate Offense and Defense

Christy stood with her head held high as she walked into the outdoor battlefield, set up exactly for the Chunin Exams. She looked at Lee, who was standing beside her, both nervously and excitedly. She held a hand out to him, and he looked from her hand up to her in surprise.

"No hard feelings," she said. "No matter what happens."

Lee smiled and shook her head. "Of course not," he said. "Though I'll let you know, I don't plan on making it easy on you."

Christy smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"All right, everyone," Somah said from the center of the battlefield. "I need the first two contestants to come up."

Christy and Lee both took in deep breaths, and then walked out onto the battlefield. They faced each other and both consented to the battle.

"All right, then," Somah said. "Begin.

"All right," Lee said. "Let's make some magic." He began running around too fast for Christy to see.

Christy began weaving signs, and then blew down and yelled, "Gokakyu fireball!" A huge blast of fire shot from her mouth and blew against the ground for a radius of twenty feet all around her. She heard a slight groan and spun around and threw several kunais. She heard a yell of surprise as Lee went flying back up against the wall.

The fire stopped and Lee got to his feet, pulling the weapons out of his body. He smirked at Christy. "And so it begins." With that he disappeared.

Christy spun around, looking for him, and she heard someone say, "Too late." Christy felt several weapons pierce her back, and spun around just in time. She held her hands up and a combination of a forcefield and a fire attack blazed from her hand, hit Lee's foot.

Lee let out a yell of pain and surprise as he fell down, his foot burnt. As Christy pulled the weapons out of her back, though, Lee disappeared as he began running again, and just as she turned around, she could feel something rake right across her back. She let out a yell of pain and surprise as he raked a throwing star across her back. As he leapt up in the air in front of her and threw several weapons at her. She thrust her hands against the ground and a forcefield appeared all around her. She took the chance to take a breather, and then looked up and couldn't find Lee anywhere.

Christy let her forcefield down for a second and then felt something wrap around her. She looked down and saw bandages wrapp around her and knew instantly what he was going to do. She looked up and saw Lee holding the other end of the bandages and pulled hard. As she went flying up toward him, her eyes widened in horror.

Then, just as he was about to punch her in the stomach, when his fist was less than an inch away, Christy emmited a large amount of chakra around her stomach, creating a forcefield. He let out a yell of surprise as his fist hit the forcefield and he was forced to let go. Christy then fell hard about fifty feet and hit the ground hard with a "thunk!"

Christy moaned, barely able to move. She rolled onto her stomach and saw Lee get to her feet. It wasn't his attack that had made her lose. It was the landing.

"Seeing as one contestant is unable to battle, Lee is the winner!" Somah yelled.

Christy slowly got to her feet and nodded respectfuly to Lee. "Good job," she said. "I'm already out of chakra. So good luck in your next battle."

Lee nodded and blushed. "I thought you had me there for a minute."

Christy smiled and shook her head. "No. I hoped, but I got my chance to fight. That's what's important."

As the two backed off of the field, Somah yelled, "Would Aburame Shino and Yamanaka Ino please step onto the field?"

Ino frowned as she walked onto the field. Shino was a tough opponent. He was strong and fast, and unpredictable. She had to make this fast.

Shino frowned as he stepped onto the field. She was a mind-controler, just like her dad. She could transfer her psyche fast and he knew that's what her main technique would be.

As Shino stepped onto the field, he faced Ino with Somah to the side of them. "Begin!" Somah yelled.

Ino smiled, holding her hands behind her back and pretending to look like a lady. "Don't worry, Shino," she said. "I'll make this fast and simple so we'll be out of her soon." She thrust her hands forward into the shintenshin sign.

"What a one-trick pony," Shino said, ordering his bugs to fly up from behind her under the ground.

Ino laughed. "You'll see what kind of one-trick pony I am in a minute. Shintenshin no jutsu!"

Shino expected to feel his psyche being taken over as Ino fell to her knees. But he didn't. He then wondered just what she was doing.

"Too slow," Ino said.

All of a sudden, Shino felt something pierce him from behind. He spun his head around and saw another Ino on the other side of him. He looked back in surprise and saw that the Ino there explode into a cloud of smoke. He scowled. "I'm impressed. I see you were actually using the earth style ninjutsu while I wasn't looking."

"Too slow," Ino said. "Shintenshin no jutsu!"

Shino's body convulsed and he felt as though he were in a bank of darkness, unable to see anything but black darkness.

Ino smiled from within Shino's body. "Too bad," she said. "This really was a short battle." She raised her hand. "I, Aburame Shino, withdraw from the match."

Somah hesitated, then said, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I consent to it," Ino said.

Somah hesitated, then nodded. "The winner of this match is Yamanaka Ino!"

"Kai! Release!" Ino yelled, and she suddenly returned to her own body. She looked up and smiled at Shino, who was regaining conciousness. "No hard feelings, Shino," she said. "But I came to win."

Shino nodded, looking dizzy. "Whatever," he said carelessly as bugs flew out of the ground and into his body.

Somah watched as the two Genin walked off the battlefield. _These battles are going quicker and quicker,_ she thought. She then said aloud, "Would TenTen and Inuzuka Kiba please come down?"

Someone walked down and whispered into Somah's ear, "Inuzuka Kiba was in an accident, broke his leg and arm a week ago in a training accident. He's withdrawn."

"All right," Somah said aloud. "It appears that Inuzuka Kiba has been withdrawn from his match due to injuries. The match goes to TenTen!"

"Yeah right," Kiba muttered from beside where Shino and Hinata said. "Like I _wanted_ to stay out of the match."

"I'm sorry, Kiba," Hinata said quietly. "I-I know you and A-Akamaru were looking f-forward to this match."

Kiba smiled at her. "No worries. It's not your fault that I broke my arm and leg, Hinata."

"All right, then," Somah said. "The next match, between Temari and Chris, will now take place."


	27. A Battle of Wind And Time

Chapter Twenty-six: A Battle of Wind and Time

"All right, then," Somah said. "The next match, between Temari and Chris, will now take place."

There were murmmers of excitement from the crowd once again. Temari and Clarissa both looked unsure, but they both got to their feet and walked out to the battlefield.

The two friends faced each other on the field. "Are you two ready?" Genma asked.

"Absoloutely," Clarissa said.

"Back at ya," Temari said.

"Then begin," Genma said.

With one swift movement Temari pulled her fan off of her back and unfolded it. "Get ready, Clarissa," she said.

Clarissa held her hands in a hand seal as she backed several feet away, pointing the seal at Temari. "You, too, Temari," she said. "You have no idea what power I have."

"Same here," Temari said. With one movement, she swung her fan hard. A huge gust of wind blasted from the fan, sending Clarissa flying up against the wall several hundred feet back.

Clarissa landed on her knees and began chuckling.

Temari narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

Clarissa lifted her head. Blood was streaming from her mouth, and her right eye was black already. "Get ready to lose, Temari," she said. "You see, I have a power that others could only dream of."

"What's that?" Temari asked.

Clarissa made the same handseal as before and closed her eyes. She then pointed both of her arms straight up in the air and began moving her right arm in a circle.

"What's she doing?" Christy asked in confusion.

"I'm not sure," Joe said, equally confused.

When Clarissa's right hand met the left straight up again, Clarissa pointed her fingers so that there was a sixty-degree angle between the thumb and forefinger. A light began glowing between Clarissa's fingers, a light as bright as the sun. Everyone had to close their eyes or turn away to avoid being blinded.

"What's going on?" Jessie exclaimed. "What in bloody hell is she doing?"

The light began to die down, but now in Clarrisa's hands, between her thumb and forefingers, were two metal half-triangles. The edges of the half-triangles were rugged and broken, but it was visible that the two halves belonged together. They looked like someone had taken a hammer and created a crack right down the middle.

Clarissa opened her eyes. "Prepare to lose, Temari," she said. "Time is about to turn in my favor." She snapped the two half-triangles together. There was an amazing blast of light from the whole triangle. Everyone was blinded from the battle and had to turn their heads away, closing their eyes to keep them from really being blinded.

When the light died down, Clarissa opened her eyes. She set the triangle down on the ground, making sure to keep it whole. She chuckled as she looked around. Everything was frozen, everything except for her, that was.

"Now," Clarissa said, taking a step toward Temari. She held her hands in yet another hand seal. "I think it's time that you forefeited, Temari," she said. "_Shintenshin no jutsu!_" she yelled.

A moment later, Clarissa's body went limp and she fell to her knees. Temari's eyes opened. She let out a dark chuckle. "You lose," she said, and lifted her head. "Temari."

Temari walked over to the triangle and nudged one half of it away from the other half. There was yet another amazing bright light, but this one died away much quicker. Temari turned around and walked over to where she had been standing before. She raised her right hand. "I, Temari of the Sand, wish to withdraw from the match."

Genma frowned. "Are you sure?"

Temari nodded. "Yes. I, Temari of the Sand, wish to withdraw from the match."

Genma nodded. "Very well. The match goes to Clarissa!"

There were cheers and applauses from everyone in the crowd who was watching.

Clarissa, whose mind was inside Temari, held her hands together in a seal. "Kai! Release!" she yelled.

A moment later, Clarissa's body began to stand up. She looked over at where the metal half-triangles lay. They began glowing and a moment later, disappeared.

Clarissa looked over at Temari and smiled. "No hard feelings, Temari," she said, holding a hand out to Temari.

Temari hesitated, then smiled. "Right," she said, shaking Clarissa's hand.

The two friends walked back to their seats and sat down.

Joe frowned at Clarissa. "What'd you do there?" she asked. "One second you were doing some strange jutsu, and the next Temari's forfeiting."

Clarissa smiled. "You know how each of us has a special ability?"

Joe nodded.

Clarissa grinned even more. "Well, mine is the ability to stop time for five minutes. But it uses up half of my chakra just to stop time for five minutes, so I'm really tired right now."

"Good job though, Chris," Jessie said.

"Thanks," Clarissa said.

"Clarissa," Clarissa looked up and saw her teacher, Somah standing in front of her. "Come with me. We need you to get medical attention."

"Yes, Somah-sensei," Clarissa said, getting to her feet and following Somah out of the room.

"All right, everyone," Genma said. "It's time for the next battle. Jessie vs, Gaara."

The two Sand ninja stepped from their seets next to one another and walked down to the battlefield.

"Do either of you have complaints?" Genma asked.

"No," Gaara said.

"None," Jessie said.

"Then begin!" Genma said.

"Let's get this over with," Gaara said. He held a hand out. Sand shot up out of the ground and wrapped itself around Jessie's wrists and ankles.

Jessie closed her eyes and a moment later, the sand blasted off of her body. Wind had blown it away. Jessie leapt back and thrust her hand forward. A huge blast of wind shot from behind her and blasted for Gaara.

A large wall of sand formed in front of Gaara. Jessie continued thrusting wind at Gaara, but the sand continued to jump up and defend Gaara.

Jessie landed on the ground and held her hands in a handseal. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" she yelled. All of a sudden, there were seven Jessies on the field. They all took a step back and thrust their hands forward, blasting wind at Gaara.

Still, sand continued to jump up from the ground and defended Gaara. Finally, the clones disappeared, leaving one very pissed Jessie. Jessie narrowed her eyes.

"If there's no other way, then I guess it'll have to be this way," she said. She held a hand out toward Gaara. She then formed a fist with her hand.

Gaara's eyes widened and he tried to keep his mouth closed, but he was forced to keep it open. He fell to his knees, gripping his throat.

"What's happening to Gaara?" Ino asked, confused. "He looks horrified."

"That's what I want to know," Temari demanded.

Joe's eyes closed. "She's sucking the air out of his lungs."

"What?!" Temari, Ino and Kankurou exclaimed.

Joe nodded slightly and opened her eyes. "To Jessie, showing everyone what she can do and how strong she is is worth her life. She knows that Gaara doesn't desire the grave, so she knows he'll forfiet before all of the air in his lungs is sucked out. By using her wind powers, she can control the air itself, in a matter of speaking. She's pulling her wind from the lungs themselves."

Jessie's eyes blazed. "Forfiet, Gaara! It's not worth your life. You don't need to die in the Chunin Exams when you can come back another year, or when you may very well make Chunin now yourself."

Gaara nodded slightly. Jessie lowered her hand and Gaara let out a huge gasp of air. His eyes were wide and he was panting hard.

Jessie thrust her hand forward and a blast of wind hit Gaara and sent him flying up against the wall, pinning him there.

Temari, Kankurou, Joe, Christy, Shikamaru, Sakura and Ino all gasped, their eyes huge as the watched.

Genma's eyes widened. "As it is obvious that the battle cannot go on, Jessie is the winner!"

Jessie lowered her hand and Gaara fell down to his knees. Jessie looked at Gaara, her eyes half-closed. She walked over to him and stood in front of him as he stood up. They looked at each other for several moments, their eyes hard, before they both walked away out of the arena.

"All right," Genma said. "The sixth battle will be between Aburame Joe and Hyuga Neji."

There were several excited murmmers as everyone anticipated the battle. It was clear that many people wanted to see this battle.

Joe frowned. "At last."

Neji narrowed his eyes. "Hmm."


	28. Showdown! Joe vs Neji

Chapter Twenty-eight: Showdown! Joe Vs. Neji

Joe and Neji walked onto the battlefield and stood across from one another, both staring one another in the eye.

Gai and Lee both frowned. "This isn't good," Lee said.

"You're right," Gai said, shaking his head.

"What's wrong?" Christy asked, confused. "I would think this would be a great opportunity for them, esspecially since they've been acting sort of like teammates. They could learn from one another in this battle."

Gai shook his head. "That's not the problem. Neji's got a hunger in him for strength, enough strength never to lose in a fight, and he's grown even stronger than he was at the last Chunin Exams, six months ago. And then there's Joe, who holds a thirst to prove herself to her two teams and her new family, and a fire in her belly that will allow her to do terrible things to get there."

"Terrible things?" Ino, who was sitting next to Christy, asked, confused. "What kind of terrible things?"

Gai sighed. "The kind of stuff that could land both her and Neji in the hospital for months."

Ino and Christy's eyes widened, and they looked back at the field.

Somah looked from the Aburame kid to the Hyuga kid. _The look in their eyes,_ she thought. _They've both come to win. This will be an intense battle._ "You two ready?" she asked.

"Yeah," Joe said.

"Hmm," Neji said, nodding.

"Then let the final round begin!" Somah yelled, and leapt back out of the way.

Neji stood in his Hyuga stance, one hand down and the other faced to Joe. "Prepare to lose, Aburame," he said.

Joe stood with one hand out toward Neji, and beckoned him. "Bring it, Hyuga."

Neji suddenly leapt forward and thrust his hand toward Joe. But she was too quick. She dodged and jumped, kicking her leg out at him. But as she expected, Neji used his rotation and put a forcefield around his body, stopping the attack. As he thrust his hand toward her, she quickly ran and dodged it. She began running as fast as she could with her legweights on, making herself nearly invisible.

"Gonna keep on running instead of actually facing me?" Neji antagonized.

Joe smirked. "Have it your way," she laughed, leaping toward me. She thrust a clenched fist forward as he shoved his opened and flat palm against her stomach, hitting one of her organs. She coughed up blood as she felt the attack on her kidney. But she continued through with the punch and nailed him in the face, sending him flying.

Joe leapt backwards and grabbed her left side, which she could feel failing. She then crouched down, set her hands on the floor, and closed her eyes.

"What's she doing?" Ino asked, confused.

Shino's eyes widened. _No way! That's…_ he thought.

Lee's eyes widened. "Her thinking position!" he exclaimed. "She really _has_ come to win."

"Her thinking position?" Ino asked in surprise.

Christy nodded. "I realized this when we were training together under Kakashi. Whenever Joe gets in a bind and realizes she has a tough battle ahead of her, she gets into that position for about a minute, coming up with a strategy as fast as possible."

"But she only uses that as a last resort."

Joe put her hands in a tiger handseal, her eyes still closed.

Neji got up and turned around to see Joe crouched low. He knew instantly that this was her thinking position, and he had to end it instantly. Otherwise she'd have more time to think. As he ran toward her, as fast as he could, he yelled, "You're not going to win! I know you and your abilities, there's no way you can use jutsus!"

He saw Joe's eyes suddenly flash open, her blue eyes glaring hard and menacing at Neji. "I haven't just been training with Lee and Gai, you know," she said. "You like to talk about destiny? Well, as of now, your fate is sealed."

"We'll see about that!" Neji yelled as he shot forward and shoved his fist against her heart. Her eyes widened and she coughed up blood. She fell over, gripping her stomach tightly as she coughed.

"You're done," Neji scoffed.

Gai's eyes half-closed. _Joe,_ he thought.

_Gai stared at Joe. "I can teach you the same moves as Lee," he said confidently. "By the time the Chunin Exams come in five months, I promise you that you will be able to open the first three inner gates."_

"_Really?" Joe asked excitedly._

_Gai nodded. "I will teach you the Forward Lotus, Konoha Hurricane, how to open the first three inner gates and everything else in the taijutsu department I can by then. I know you can make a great taijutsu specialist like Lee, if you're given the chance."_

_Joe smiled and nodded. "All right then, help me and I'll be your new pupil."_

Gai narrowed his eyes. _I know you've got more than this in you,_ he said. _Now explode!_

"No way," Shino said, his eyes narrowed in disbelief. Hinata turned and looked at him in surprise, as did Kiba.

"What's wrong?" Kiba asked.

"I can't believe that after all that thinking she just did, and after that comment to Neji, that she would be finished off that easily," Shino said, his eyes narrowed.

Joe lifted her head and coughed while laughing. "Don't understimate me," she laughed dryly, and then suddenly turned into smoke, replaced by a medium size stone.

"What?" Neji yelled, spinning around. But it was too late. The real Joe came flying through the air and kicked Neji in the face, sending him flying across the field, coughing up blood.

Joe landed on the ground, panting hard. "It may take twice as much chakra and work for me to pull off even the simplest of jutsus," she said. "But it can be done, and even trick you when you're cocky."

Neji stood up, his eyes narrowed as he panted. "You'd better have a lot more than that if you plan to beat me," he said, whiping the blood off of his mouth.

Joe closed her eyes. "I have only a little bit of chakra left in me." She opened her eyes half-way. "You see, I've already opened the first four inner gates inside me, and you never knew it."

"What?" Lee exclaimed. "When did she learn how to open the fourth gate?!"

Neji narrowed his eyes and used his Byakugan. His eyes widened when he saw that she was right. He could see four of the eight inner gates opened, and very little chakra. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Joe. "Then, if you've already opened them, where's the power that comes with them, like Lee had during the last Chunin Exam six months ago?"

Joe's eyes remained half-closed, as though she were in a trance. "All around you," she said.

Neji's eyes widened. "You don't mean…"

"That's right," Joe said. "As I said, Neji, the moment I got into my thinking position, your fate in this battle was sealed. AHHHHH!" she yelled, falling to the ground and smashing her hands flat against the ground.

As though on command, the ground began shooting up, exploding and errupting from most of the battlefield. It blasted up with amazing power and made almost a wave toward Neji. It hit Neji head on and sent him flying up against the other wall. When everything calmed down, and the smoke and chakra in the air began to fade away, everyone gasped when they saw Joe standing shakily, blood oozing out of her arms and legs, and Neji lying on the ground, unable to move, with his whole body shaking.

Somah smiled, having barely stayed out of the battle. She raised a hand to Joe. "Seeing as the battle cannot go on, the winner of this battle is Aburame Joe!"

"Neji," Joe said quietly. "Thank you. You helped me open up the fourth gate in this battle. Even if Gai-sensei and Tsunade-sama punish me later, at least I've stayed true to my Shinobi path."

Neji slowly began to get to his feet, shaking and bleeding. "I've realized in this battle," he said. "That I'm still not as strong as I want to be, to fulfill _my_ Shinobi path. I'm still weak."

"No," Joe said. "You are far from weak. I realized this last month that even if I can use the eight inner gates, it's a worthless power unless I'm ready to use it for my Village and country. I need to get stronger to prove to my teammates, and my Village, that I will do all I can to defend my country."

Neji didn't get to reply. He fell to the ground. Then Joe fell to the ground, her eyes closed.

"Get the medical corps over here now!" Somah yelled.

"Yes, ma'am!" the medical ninjas yelled as they raced over and put the two kids on stretchers.

Gai's eyes glowed with pride as he watched Joe began carried out. She was a lot like Lee. He would get hell over this from Tsunade, but he didn't care at the moment. She had done what he figured would be impossible in five months. She had opened the first four inner gates. She had been willing to sacrifice her life just to stay true to her Shinobi path. He couldn't be prouder.

Somah walked across what used to be a battlefield, and what now looked like a mineshaft that had just been dynamited.

Gaara closed his eyes and said, "Why do they have to destroy our battle field?" When Jessie opened her mouth, before she could answer, he said, "That was a retorical question, Jessie, so don't say anything."

Jessie grinned.

Somah stood in front of everyone and announced, "The first round of the Third Exam is over! We will return in one week to continue on with the next round. The pairings who will fight will be Rock Lee vs. Jessie, Yamanaka Ino vs TenTen, and Chris vs. Joe. We will see you then."

Shino got to his feet and walked over to Ino and Christy. "I'm heading over to see Joe," he said. "You two gonna come."

"You bet," Ino said.

"I wouldn't miss it," Christy said.

"We're coming, too," Gai said, nodding to Lee. "I want to see how she's doing. I can't imagine it's good, but I need to know."

As the five ninja headed over to the hospital wing, Shino saw Tsunade walk out, looking lost in her thought. Anko followed closely from behind her, looking ready to cry.

Tsunade's eyes blinked when she saw the group. "Gai," she said. "I assume you're here to hear about Joe and Neji."

"Yes, ma'am," Gai said.

"I could put you on probation for what you did to that girl," Tsunade said. She sighed. "But I won't since Joe stayed concious long enough to tell me not to punish you and that it was all her doing, opening the fourth gate."

"How is she?" Lee asked worriedly.

Tsunade shook her head. "Not good. Like you did, Lee, she'll need surgery, and as soon as possible, if at all possible. I'm having her transported back to Konoha as we speak, and in a few days I'll head back to opperate on her. Dewie will be staying with me until this duration is over. I sent a message to Shino's father." She nodded. "Neji's doing better than Joe, luckily. He's got a few cracked ribs, a broken left arm and a broken right leg, but other than that, it's just a lot of superfacial wounds." She sighed, running her hand over her face. "I don't know how I'm going to pay back Sunagakure for those damages," she said. She turned to Shino. "I'd suggest you head back home, since you're not in the next round. You will be allowed to stay with Joe at the hospital until the surgery since you're considered family, but I want to warn you all," she said, looking at them. "She won't be training for several months, and she definetely won't be competing next week in the next round against Chris." When she saw their down faces, she smiled, glad to give them something that would shake that off their minds for a minute. "But there is some good news."

"What?" Anko asked, walking up, looking confused. Clearly she handn't learned this.

Tsunade smiled. "I shouldn't tell you this, since the Exams aren't over yet, but Joe and Neji have both been permitted to become Chunin."

Everyone's eyes widened. "That's great!" Christy exclaimed.

"Yeah," Ino said. "That will make her happy once she finds out."

Tsunade nodded and turned to Anko and Shino. "I'd suggest you two start heading back. Anko, explain it to Timmy and Kyler before you leave. They can go back with Asuma's group."

Anko nodded and walked away. As Shino watched the group disperse, he had an aching feeling that Joe's problems had only really begun.


	29. The Results

Chapter Twenty-eight: The Results

Jessie leapt at Chris, thrust her hand forward. Wind shot out at a high speed and hit one of the several Chris's on the field. It burst into smoke and Jessie spun around, facing the two final Chris's on the field. "This is it, Chris!" she yelled. "After all this time in the Exams, this is it!"

Both Chris's were panting hard, bleeding and drained of chakra. It had been two weeks since the first round of the real Third Exam. Chris had faced off against TenTen, who had beaten Ino, after Jessie won in her battle against Lee. After the week in between those battles and this one, it was down to the last two Genin. Both were tired, scared, and bleeding. And both were massively drained of chakra.

Jessie felt as though her arms were going to fall off. She had been shooting wind blasts around for ten minutes. Chris had tried using her special time technique, but as soon as her metalic tablets had appeared in her hands, Jessie had transported herself over behind Chris and destroyed them with a wind blast. Jessie hadn't given her a chance since to use that technique. She'd kept her moving every second, and when Chris had used shadow clones, it had taken Jessie even longer.

"Too late!" a voice yelled. Jessie felt something grab onto her legs and looked around her, and then down to see Chris appearing from the ground, grabbing onto Jessie's legs.

"What?" she exclaimed.

"Look beneath you next time," Chris said. "Now say hi to my time technique."

"No!" Jessie yelled as a flash of light glowed, blinding her.

A moment later, Jessie suddenly felt her body go rigid. She realized in horror that the technique had been successful, even if only for a moment. She felt her hand being forced up. Then she walked forward and felt her lips move and her voice speak, "I, Jessie of the Sand, withdraw from the match."

No! Jessie thought desperately. After all this, I can't lose now!

Somah looked amused. "Are you sure?" she asked.

No! Jessie wanted to yell, but she felt herself say, "Yes."

Somah nodded. "Very well. As Jessie has forefieted, Chris is the winner of the match."

Jessie suddenly felt her body being released. She fell to the ground, panting, and saw Chris begin to get to her feet, also panting.

"How?" Jessie demanded. "How did you have enough chakra?"

Chris shook her head, still panting. "I left just enough in me to survive. I stopped time just long enough to transfer my psyche, using up a lot of my chakra. But my clone was in the ground from the time I made those fourteen clones out here. There were fifteen all along. You just didn't see the fifteenth one." She dipped her head. "You fought very well, though," she said. "I commend you for that."

Jessie staggered to her feet and walked over. She shook hands with Chris. "Good match," she said. "Hopefuly we both become Chunin."

Chris smiled. "Hopefuly," she said, in her normal Chris-like voice.

Someone suddenly appeared on the battlefield and handed Somah a piece of paper. Somah looked at it, then at the person in surprise. The person nodded, and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Somah then said aloud, "All right. I have the names of the Genin who are to advance to Chunin. They are: Gaara, Aburame Joe, Hyuga Neji, Christy, Temari, Chris, Rock Lee and Yamanaka Ino."

Jessie felt a rush of excitement run through her. She hit high-fives with Chris, then felt a rush of pain run through her veins. "Gahh!" she yelled.

"Jessie?" Chris exclaimed.

"My arms, my veins," Jessie moaned. "I think it's my keirakukei. I've pushed them to their max these last two months, and now they're killing me."

"Somah!" Chris yelled. "We need doctors! Now!"

A medical team ran over and soon carried Jessie out. Chris watched her go and then saw Temari, Gaara, Christy, Lee and Ino walk out onto the field, and suddenly became aware of the cheering and yelling from around them. But as Chris felt a rush of happiness at the praise and honor of being a Chunin, she also felt the longing for Joe and Neji to be there.

Chris walked into Joe's hospital room and saw her lying on the bed, covered in bandages and a mask hooked up to her mouth. She had an I.V. hooked into her arm. Chris was wearing her new Chunin vest over her pink top and skirt, her Sand headband around her neck.

"Hi, Chris," a voice said.

Chris turned around and saw Shino standing there, looking in at them. "Hi, Shino," she said in reply. "How is she?"

Shino nodded. "The surgery was a success." She could hear the stress and tiredness in his voice. "I've been here with her the whole time," he said, as though reading her mind. "Tsunade did a great job in the surgery. She said Joe will be out of the hospital in a couple of months."

"And Neji?" Chris asked.

Shino shrugged. "He'll be out in a few weeks. Won't be training immediately, but he'll at least be out."

Chris nodded and looked down at Joe. "Where's Dewie?" she asked. "He was always her best medicine."

Shino nodded as he walked up beside her. "Tsunade put him in a separate room and put a sleeping jutsu on him. He didn't sleep for three days. He was just in her on the side of the bed with her. He'll be back in here tomorrow, though."

"Has she gained conciousness long enough to know about being a Chunin?" Chris asked.

Shino nodded, and before he could say anything, Chris heard, "Yeah. Lee told me right after he got back after his battle a week ago."

Chris turned her head and saw Joe lying on the bed still, but having pulled her oxygen mask down with her bandaged hand. She smiled. "Hey, Chris," she whispered.

"Hey," Chris said. "How are you?"

Joe looked up at the ceiling. "I'm in a hospital, unable to move for two months. You're smart. Figure it out."

Chris laughed. "You haven't changed at all, even when you're on your deathbed."

Joe looked at Chris, a firm look in her eyes. "Chris, I'm hurt. I ain't dead."

Shino laughed in addition to Chris this time. "Clearly," Shino said. "Otherwise you wouldn't be sarcastic."

Joe forced a smile again.

Chris asked, "So, how much trouble did you get in?"

Joe sighed, frowning. "I don't know. But Tsunade's demanded to see Anko and me once I get out o' here." She smiled at Chris. "I heard you won overall in the Exams." She held her closed right fist up. Chris gently touched a closed fist to hers. Joe smiled. "Keep training, Chris. Promise me you'll keep it up so that next time we fight, you'll be ready for me."

Chris smiled. "You, too, Aburame. I want you in your best condition."

Joe coughed and nodded, smiling. She pulled her oxygen mask back on over her mouth, then laid her head down and closed her eyes, falling back to sleep.

Chris and Shino walked back out into the hallway, and Chris asked, "What you gonna do now?"

Shino nodded. "Stay with her until she leaves the hospital. Help her out. Then I'm going to start training again, train until I'm strong enough to be a Chunin, and then a Jounin."

Chris nodded. "Same here. I'm going to check in on some of the others, and then I'm heading back home. I'll rest for a few days, and then start up training again. I fully intend to keep my promise to Joe. The next time she sees me, I'll be a whole other ninja. I fully intend to be a Jounin as soon as possible, prefferably within a period of about three years, and I hope you all are, too."

Shino nodded, and Chris guessed that he was smiling. "We'll see, won't we?"

Chris smiled at Shino. "See you, Aburame," she said, walking away. As she walked down to visit Christy before she left the hospital, she thought, _I'm going to keep my promise. I'm totally going to become a Jounin within three years. I'm going to train so hard that I'll never lose another battle, so that if my country ever needs me for any reason, I'll be there like a stone wall, ready to protect everyone and everything that's precious to me. And even moreso, I intend on going and finding Sasuke and bringing him home. He hurt Naruto and Sakura, and me, all where it hurts the most: in the heart. I'm going to find him and tell him how I feel. I'm going to get strong enough so that once I find him, I'm bringing him home, and bringing Orochimaru down._


	30. Tsunade's Decision

Chapter Twenty-nine: Tsunade's Decision

Lee, Gai and Shino all stood outside of the hospital, waiting. It had been almost two months since the Chunin Exams, and today Joe was finally being released from the hospital.

The doors of the hospital opened and Anko stepped out carrying a black backpack, and walking next to her and leaning on crutches was Joe. Lee smiled when he saw his friend smile at them.

"Hi, Joe," Gai said. "I bet you're happy to be out."

"Hey, Gai-sensei," Joe said, smiling.

"Now, I expect you to be ready for training in a month," Gai said, grinning.

"Gai," Anko scolded.

"No, Anko-sensei," Joe said, smiling. "I wouldn't expect anything else from him."

"How are you doing?" Shino asked.

Joe shrugged. "I'm still on the crutches, as you can see. But I'm far more than ready to go home."

"First we're going to go see Hokage-sama," Anko said.

Joe rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said.

Lee smiled at Joe. "Hey, how does it feel to be on your feet and out of the hospital?"

Joe smiled at Lee. "Good, to tell you the truth. But it won't feel as good until I can train like a normal ninja again. By the way, how's Neji?"

"Good," Gai said, nodding. "He got out of the hospital three weeks after admitted. He's been training like normal for about a month now, since his wounds healed."

Joe rolled her eyes. "Naturally."

"By the way, smarty pants," Gai said, placing his hands on his hips. "Why did you push yourself like that? You nearly killed yourself, and nearly got me killed by Tsunade."

Joe frowned. "I said everything in the battle. I know that in order to become the best ninja I can be, I have to be willing to do what it takes to become a strong Shinobi and care for my Village and country, even at the cost of my life. My life is trivial compared to the lives of everyone in the country. I'll carry on training until I've reached perfection physically, a feat which I know will never be possible. But my goal, my Shinobi path is to become so strong that my country can use me for anything, for anything they need me for, that I can be respected and trusted by the Leaf Village as a friend and someone they can rely on."

Anko set a hand on the top of Joe's head. "Well, if you ever do that again, you won't die from the person you're fighting. You'll have one teacher 100 responsible and who will willingly plead guilty."

"Two teachers," Gai corrected.

Joe sighed. "Why is it that I feel like I have Troy and Mom here all over again? Where's Dewie?" Joe asked, looking around.

"At Tsunade's office," Shino said, grinning. "She's been taking care of him for the past two months."

"Really?" Joe asked in surprise.

Anko laughed. "Yeah. She and Dewie have become very good friends. I never thought that she would ever get along with dogs, but she's become very fond of Dewie."

Joe chuckled.

Anko nodded away. "Come on, Joe. We've got to go talk to Tsunade."

Joe nodded and nodded to her friends. "I'll see you guys soon," she said.

"Yeah, see ya Joe," Lee said.

"See ya at home," Shino said.

"I'll see you later, Joe," Gai said.

Joe began walking away beside Anko, leaning on her crutches. About half an hour later, they walked into Tsunade's office. Tsunade was sitting behind her desk, waiting patiently. Dewie was sitting beside the desk patiently. He barked when he saw Joe walk in, his ears perked and his tail wagging. He ran up to Joe and sat in front of her.

"Dewie!" Joe exclaimed. She leaned over and hugged her dog before standing upright again.

Tsunade smiled. "He's definetely missed you for the past two months."

Joe smiled and rubbed Dewie's head. "I've missed him too. I heard you two have been getting along pretty well," she teased.

Tsunade smiled even more. "Yes, we've become good friends."

"You wanted to speak to us?" Anko said.

Tsunade frowned and nodded. "Yes. I know you might not like this right now, Joe, and I understand that. But I really do feel that this is for your own good." She sighed. "I want you and Anko to leave Konoha for a while and go live in Village-Hidden-In-The-Mist."

"Mist Village?" Joe and Anko said in surprise in unison.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. Since Naruto's left with Jairaya and Sasuke's left us, Kakashi will only have one student. I will be putting Kyler under the training of Kakashi along with Timmy and Sakura, who will both be training under me as well. Timmy came to me a week ago and expressed that he wanted to become a medical ninja, so I agreed to take him and Sakura on. Anko, this way you won't have to worry about your two other students. Joe, I've already spoken with the head of the Aburame Clan. He knows that you will be gone for quite some time with Anko."

"But why?" Joe asked.

Tsunade sighed. "I feel that it's best for you to regain your strength away from Konoha, where you'd be tempted to train too early before your body's ready. There's a house set up in the mountains in Mist Village." She handed Anko a binder. "That binder is filled with information on the way to get there and some other stuff I want her to take care of there. I want Joe to train in Mist Village until she is back to her former strength. I know Joe well enough to know that if given the time and training, she will return to her old strength. I know your will, Joe," she said to Joe, smiling. "I know how much you desire being a ninja. I have no doubt that you will train hard and regain your strength, esspecially since you're a Chunin now." Joe nodded. Tsunade continued. "Dewie will go with you all and continue training with Joe. Arrangements have already been made with the Mizukage for your living there. No one in Mist Village will treat you as an enemy. Anko, this will be considered a mission without a known end to it, so it will be legal."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Anko said, nodding.

Tsunade nodded. "Other than that, all I can do is wish the both of you good luck and then dismiss you. Joe," she said, pulling out a dufflebag. "This is for you. It's a bunch of your stuff packed away, including clothes, your laptop, roller blades, video camera, CD player and headphones."

Anko took the bag from Tsunade. "Thank you," Joe said.

Tsunade said. "Like I said, good luck. I expect you to become back to Konoha as strong as ever and without the krutches," she said, nodding to the metal krutches Joe was leaning on.

Joe nodded. "Could you say good-bye to my friends for me?" she asked.

Tsunade nodded. "Sure," she said.

Joe and Anko turned around and walked out of the office with Dewie on Joe's opposite side as Anko. They walked down the street outside and headed toward the gate leading out of Konoha. Once they reached it, they looked back once, and then turned back around and walked out. As they walked, Joe thought in her mind, _I'll see you, my friends. We'll see each other soon. By then I will be ten times stronger, and I'll be able to return and become the strongest ninja I can be. Then everyone will now how dedicated I am and how much I truly care about this country._

A/N: All right, everyone. That's the last chapter of Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. However, soon I'm going to post another story, the sequal. It's going to be called… you'll soon see. No, just kidding. That's not the name of it. It's just a personal inside joke to anyone who's been taught under Brad Slavens at Livingstone or any other school. Thanks for reading my story! I really appreciate it. I know this story is kind of short, only thirty chapters,and sadly, the second half is going to be about the same length, maybe a chapter or two longer. Thanks for all the reviews. I'll post the next chapter ASAP. The next chapter will take place two and a half years later, after Naruto and Sai have arrived. So the ages will stil range from fourteen to sixteen. Thanks again! Please stay posted to my profile to see when the sequal is posted.


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